More workers at Whatcom’s 3rd largest employer are seeking to form a union
A second group of student workers at Western Washington University is seeking to unionize, joining the 1,100 tutors, teaching assistants and researchers who organized late last year.
Some 1,500 WWU students who work in university operations — support staff, office assistants, clerks, laborers, lifeguards and resident advisors — will be the first such students in Washington state to unionize, according to a statement from the Western Academic Workers United.
Operational student employees “perform critical work at the university, managing events, providing support services, doing outdoor education and recreation work, and much, much more,” the union said in a statement.
“However, [they] cite ongoing struggles around low and late pay, unsafe work environments, unpredictable schedules, and the need for a voice at work to determine their working conditions as reasons for their collective action,” the union said.
They will be part of the same union as the teaching assistants, researchers and tutors who signed union cards in December. A union election for those workers is planned this month, the union said.
Many students are working at minimum wage, which they said was too little pay to make ends meet, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.
Western Washington Union was Whatcom County’s third-largest employer in 2020, with 2,060 workers, the latest figures available, according to the school’s Center for Economic and Business Research.
This story was originally published May 9, 2023 at 9:02 AM.
