Student assistants in the Cal State University (CSU) system announced Feb. 23 that they had voted to join the CSU Employees Union.
The 20,000 student assistants seek to increase their bargaining clout by joining forces with 16,000 university staff members represented by the union, NBC News Los Angeles reported.
“This is for all of us and for all of our futures,” Cameron Macedonio, a student assistant at CSU Fullerton, told Bay City News.
Student assistants said they wanted to unionize because they often get minimum wage and are limited to 20 hours or less a week, and don’t receive sick or paid leave, according to EdSource, a nonprofit education newsite.
One San Diego State sociology major said he earns $16.50 an hour while working in the campus Office of Employee Engagement, where he helps with event organization and communications. He said unionization would lead to higher wages, paid time off, and discounts on parking and transit, according to Bay City News.
Catherine Hutchinson, president of the CSU Employees Union, said the move means “university management will no longer be able to divide students and staff or exploit student labor to degrade staff jobs,” Bay City News reported.
CSU Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Leora Freedman said on the Cal State website that the university respects the decision and “looks forward to bargaining in good faith with the newly formed CSUEU student assistant unit."
The move by student assistants follows a January strike by the California Faculty Association that ended with an agreement giving its 29,000 members raises and more parental leave.
The faculty association represents Cal State faculty and staff, including coaches and librarians across the 23-campus system.
Faculty members and other employees at California State University Los Angeles stop working for the start of a five-day strike at Cal State LA in Los Angeles on Jan. 22, 2024. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Marc J. Olson is a longtime Southern California journalist who has worked at the San Diego Tribune, Orange County Register, and Los Angeles Times. He is originally from Minneapolis.
