More than 97% of Cal State student employees voted in favor of unionization in February, according to the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU).
Twenty-thousand student employees received an e-ballot to their school inbox in late January. With all the votes counted, student employees across the 23 CSU campuses formed the largest undergraduate union in the country.
The main causes of the bargaining contract include higher pay, parking benefits and paid sick time, according to their website.
“A lack of paid sick time off causes a lot of students to either miss out on work or come to school and do their job sick, which is not ideal,” political science senior Jeremy Banks said. “People should not have to work if they’re sick.”
Banks serves as the organizing committee intern for Cal Poly, working as an employee at the Mustang Success Center. Since joining the campaign in June he said he noticed an outpouring of support while conducting outreach.
“We’ve had mostly positive feedback,” he said. “It’s alarming how many felt there were issues within their workplace, but also how many felt a union could help alleviate these issues.”
CSUEU organizers hope that student employees across campuses will reap many benefits following unionization.
“Our number one job while attending university should be to learn, but it’s really difficult to do that when you have to work multiple jobs to get the bare minimum in money and other benefits,” Banks said.
This is an ongoing story. Mustang News will update this article as more information becomes available.
