Residence hall assistants at the University of Pennsylvania have ratified their first union contract with increased benefits and pay. The group became the first RA union in the Philadelphia area in September when it joined the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153.

“This is the first student worker contract in the history of the University of Pennsylvania. (It) builds a strong foundation for fair pay and respect and transparency and support for student workers at Penn,” Scott Williams, a lead organizer with OPEIU Local 153, said in an interview Monday.

Before the new two-year contract, students received a partial meal plan and a room in exchange for about 20 hours of work per week as RAs. The new contract includes 20 additional meals as part of their plan, as well as an annual $3,000 stipend in the first year of the contract, which will increase to $3,100 in the second year. RAs who worked this spring will receive a $750 retroactive stipend.

“Following six months of negotiations, Penn is pleased to have reached an agreement on the first contract with the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153,” a university spokesperson said via email. “We were notified by the union that the agreement was unanimously ratified, and we are looking forward to continued cooperation as we move into this next phase.”

The contract represents 220 RAs, who are full-time graduate or undergraduate students. The vote took place on Friday, with all members voting in favor of the new contract.

The RAs filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board in March 2023, but Penn challenged the group’s efforts to become a union, arguing that the students were temporary workers and not employees.

The National Labor Relations Board ultimately rejected the university’s argument in August and cleared the way for the student workers to vote to become a union.

“I hope other RA unions in the Philadelphia area and beyond can learn from our negotiation campaign to strike even better deals with their employers, and I hope other student workers on Penn’s campus can feel energized to unionize and to bargain their own contracts too,” Conor Emery, an undergrad RA who graduated this spring, said in a statement.