Stony Brook RA Union

A response to a recent question about the FICA tax:

Dear Stony Brook RA Union,

“If we get a union and they list us as employees (by giving us vacation time or sick days) we are then going to be charged FICA (social security) which is 7.65% of our paycheck. The IRS charges this and the union could do little to change it. So if you add to the 2% union dues we will lose 9.65% of our paycheck.”

Is this true?

No. Here are the Facts about FICA:

(1) TAs/GAs are employees and union members who are not paying FICA taxes, and neither would we. All full-time students in NY are exempt according to the Student FICA Exception.

(2) RAs have been considered employees according to the National Labor Relations Board since 2002. And just recently the NLRB in Brooklyn affirmed this and ruled that RAs at Stony Brook are indeed employees (in addition to being students.) It was the RF that was essentially trying to change the law, not the union.

(3) The RF has no control over tax law.

In summary, voting in a union will change nothing in relation to FICA tax. This information has been double checked by our lawyers as well to insure it is correct and that indeed we will not be responsible for any additional taxes. The RF is just becoming desperate at this point in an attempt to scare us.