Unionizing protests seen across CSUs

continued from pg. 1 and strikes by student workers across the country, from UC Berkeley, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania, and more.

To many workers, this call for change was long overdue. CSU teaching assistants and academic workers are already represented by The Union of Academic Student Workers at the California State University, while other student workers, who often perform non-academic work such as staffing reception desks, serving customers at the cafeteria, and helping run student centers, currently have nothing.

“Having some type of security during the school year can give the students a peace of mind,” said third-year Liberal Studies major D’Vonna Kiwovele. “I think that mobilization is long overdue because students who work at SSU are also faculty as well. The students help the school function and without the students who give their heart and soul to their jobs, it would not go smoothly in my opinion. I think having a union will unite the students who work for the school and help bring more students to work for the school as well.”

Student workers can find on-campus jobs to be easy and convenient sources of income, considering their hours can be molded to accommodate their preexisting schedules, and the location is convenient for anyone already living on or around campus. However the problem arises when they realize they are often paid minimum wage and face 20-hour caps on their work schedules, which can make making up missing hours difficult, especially if they are already working pretty close to that limit anyways. The lack of any paid sick days or paid leave, and the fact that many departments pay their employees once per month are also notable flaws in the system.

“As college students taking anywhere between 12-20 units per semester and many who must support themselves to go to school, calling out even a few days from work means you are immediately out of several days’ pay,” says fourth-year anthropology major Benjamin Heany, “Just a few days can significantly impact students’ ability to provide for themselves, especially with rising costs nationwide.”

This isn’t the first time the union has taken these issues towards the higher ups. In March 2021, the union filed a petition with the California’s Public Employee Relations Board to add student assistants to its existing bargaining units, but the CSU system disputed the claim that student workers shared enough similarities with other university support staff to not be folded in with them.

Faced with these uphill battles, CSU student workers have taken matters into their own hands, launching the #LetUsVote and #LUVStudentWorkers. Just like how social media was used as an effective tool for UC organizers when planning strikes, the CSU Student Workers Instagram has been used to help spread awareness and organize. The page currently has over 2,000 followers, and features testimonials from different CSU student workers, memes, and updates about current efforts, such as providing a LinkTree with previous articles written about the union, post templates, and a union card student workers are encouraged to sign.

In order to learn more you can visit the CSU Workers Union’s page at studdentassistantunion.org, where you can also get involved and sign your union card, as well as following their instagram page at @csueu_organizing.