Union Power Builds at the CSU

Last Friday, California State University Student Assistants delivered an unmistakable message when 97 percent voted YES to join California State University Employees Union (CSUEU). 20,000 student assistants will join CSUEU’s 16,000 staff members, making them the largest union of undergraduate student workers in the United States.

“We are overjoyed and absolutely ready to march with our new CSUEU siblings to build a better CSU for all of us. We stand on the shoulders of workers at McDonald’s, Amazon, and Starbucks,” said Sacramento State Student Assistant Gem Gutierrez. “We work in Higher Ed, but our needs are the same: Fair wages, decent benefits, and respect for our work and our value to the organization. This is a new day at the CSU and we are only going forward from here.”

Once CSUEU is certified to represent the new Bargaining Unit 15, the student workers will develop their first-ever contract demands while selecting their bargaining committee.

The CSUEU elections come on the heels of CFA members approving our Tentative Agreement (TA), after eight months of reopener bargaining, and numerous job actions. Along with us Teamsters Local 2010, Academic Professionals of California and United Auto Workers 4123 won major contract gains making it a great year for CSU labor unions.

Our TA raises the salary floor for our lowest-paid faculty, increases paid parental leave, acknowledges the need to improve students-to-counselor ratios, addresses workload relief and long-standing racial, social, and gender inequities. See the full terms of the TA here.

Once CSU Trustees approve the Tentative Agreement, its terms and conditions will take effect. We will continue updating faculty as the contract is implemented.