CSU student assistants vote to start a new union seeking better wages and benefits.

The rising tide of unionization and successful bids by unions to secure more pay and benefits floated the hopes of California State University student assistants last year, envisioning that they too could be recognized and rewarded for their labor. On Feb. 23, 7,252 student employees on 23 campuses voted, with 7,050, or 97 percent, voting yes to join the California State University Employees Union/SEIU Local 2579. The vote was certified by the California Employment Relations Board (PERB) on Tuesday, March 5.

CSU Monterey Bay student assistants were part of the historic vote to create what is reportedly the largest undergraduate student union in the U.S. The vote also made history as the first primarily digital election overseen by PERB.

One CSUMB alumna, Leah Baker, won’t benefit from the new union yet nevertheless worked to make the vote happen starting last April, after student employee organizers approached SEIU for help. “I’m so proud to be setting this up for future student assistants to come,” Baker says.

As a student she worked in CSUMB’s IT Department. The money helped pay expenses, including on-campus parking. She graduated in December.

“I think there’s this idea that student workers, it’s nothing more than a paid study hall,” Baker says, adding she was doing all the work that full-time staff do while being paid minimum wage with no paid sick days or holidays.

“All workers deserve to be treated fairly by their employers, even if that employer is their university,” Baker says. “Student work is running these campuses, and it needs to be acknowledged for the real work that it is.”

The next step for the new union is to form a bargaining committee and enter into negotiations with CSU administrators. A few weeks before the student union vote, CSU faculty successfully launched the first strike of its kind in the system’s history, winning concessions from administrators after just one day.