Hi all! Since starting my undergrad degree at Western in 2019, I’ve been looking for ways to cultivate community and belonging. Feeling seen and respected by our university and employer is a huge piece of having a positive college experience. Collectively bargaining for better working conditions and benefits can improve our physical and mental health, social lives, academics, and ability to do our jobs! I’ve only been a member of WAWU for a few weeks. I have endless amounts to learn about the logistics of unionizing and bargaining. However, I’m committed to the process and would be honored to represent you in securing our demands!
I currently work as a peer advisor in the Academic Advising Center, a teaching assistant in the Biology Department, and a research assistant in the Health and Human Development Department. I’m passionate about access to mental health services, community resilience, and love working with kids. I’m also a huge fan of reality TV dating shows, making art, and chilling with my cat. Look forward to getting to know each of you better, and thank you for the opportunity!

Hello! My name is Lily Berver (she/her), and I’m a Cultural Anthropology, Spanish, and Latin American Studies major, holding the position of faculty assistant with the Employee Language Program (as well as working as a peer mentor at the Tutoring Center). Although I will be graduating in June, during my time on the Bargaining Committee (BC), I hope to make a valuable contribution and want academic student workers (ASEs) to feel the same security here at Western as my family has, given my dad’s membership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. I frequently attend WAWU meetings and have had a hand in planning events as part of the Event and Action Planning Committee. As a member of the BC, I will welcome collaboration with my fellow ASEs to know their perspectives and act as an advocate on their behalf. The intended purpose of an institution like Western is to support students, and a union is one way to ensure this support for ASEs by demonstrating care for ourselves and one another.

Hi! I’m Grace Ferrell, and I’m excited to help support your interests as part of the bargaining committee. I’ve worked as a TA running labs and as a department liaison in the Physics department, so I have experience as both a lab assistant and a faculty assistant. I’ve seen first-hand how your work at Western is undervalued and underappreciated, and I’m passionate about getting you the pay and resources you need to succeed. I hope to leverage my experience as a liaison in this role by getting feedback from students about their needs and bringing those concerns directly to the bargaining table. Our work makes Western work. By uniting, we can make our voices heard and secure better working conditions for us all.

You deserve transparency, reliability and fair compensation for your work. Western won’t provide these basic rights until we hold them accountable.
I’ve worked as a Physics TA for 3 years after a year working in my community college’s tutoring center. My involvement in worker organizing started in September when I shared my story at the first monthly membership meeting. Since then I have collected authorization cards, organized physics worker meetings, attended weekly committee meetings and traveled to Olympia to lobby for our bills to state senators and representatives. I regularly devote at least 6 hours a week to building a powerful network of workers at WWU.
I will show up at the bargaining table prepared to put my foot down, be a broken record and make impactful changes to the way Western treats their workers across campus.

My name is William Watts, and I am a tutor who has been organizing with WAWU since the fall of 2022. I have spent this time talking to peers in my workplace, exploring other departments, and having conversations about our experiences. During these conversations, I have learned about our many unique workplaces across campus, as well as what they have in common. Some of the many issues tying us together include rent burden, cross campus transparency, and unpredictability in our working situations. Recently, I had the pleasure of testifying in Olympia before the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee. There, I spoke on how these issues specifically impact my fellow tutors and I, urging them to pass the legislation that would grant us collective bargaining rights. During bargaining, I am excited for us to win a new and better workplace for everybody at Western. I have a vision where equal work on campus gets equal pay regardless of department or student type. This includes tuition waivers for undergraduates. I look forward to us bargaining a minimum number of hours we can depend on for a quarter, and a guarantee that we see our schedules at a set time before starting work. I also envision a contract that prevents any Western student, worker or otherwise, from experiencing housing insecurity. This is what I will fight for, and I want to fight for it with you.

Hi, I’m Miriam! I have been involved in WAWU since the fall and I would be so excited to be on the bargaining committee because I want to see us continue to grow in strength; and for workers to score real victory for ourselves at Western! We need fair wages at Western and we won’t give up! As a WAWU member I have been on the Organizing Committee, talked to tons of students about building worker power, scanned lots of union cards and all the rest. I am both prepared and excited to take on this increase in responsibility. Since I have an unusually light schedule this coming quarter I will be able to dive into bargaining with all of my time, dedication, spirit and plenty of justified anger. I’m ready to dive headfirst into bargaining and fight for everyone in this union! It’s time for all workers at Western to finally get the rights we deserve and take this university to task! Solidarity Sisters, Brothers, and Siblings Who Lie Betwixt!

Hello! My name is Luke Takayoshi and I hope to help represent undergraduate tutors on the WAWU bargaining committee. Here at Western I work as a Mathematics fellow, where I get to tutor students across all majors in their introductory math courses. I’m also Director of WWU QueerCon, an annual conference dedicated to celebrating everything queer in Bellingham. I was first introduced to WAWU when I lobbied with Western this year, and I was immediately swept up by everyone’s passion for change. I won’t pretend I’m an expert in union contracts, but I’ve learned so much in the past few months and I know I will continue to deepen my knowledge. If there is something I’m an expert in, it’s listening. I want to hear from student workers, particularly the undergraduates, and translate that into meaningful change throughout the bargaining process. As a tutor, I follow my students’ lead to provide effective instruction. When I’m making decisions that affect the queer local businesses and artists I get to build a conference for, asking questions is always where I start. I’m not afraid to admit that building this historic union frightens me, but that fear is going to keep me honest and dedicated throughout this process, regardless of whether you give me the opportunity to sit on this committee.

Hi! I’m Erin Magarro (they/she)—a history buff, baker, lover of pop culture—and most importantly a proud member of WAWU. Since joining the effort in September 2022, me and my coworkers have successfully organized the majority of the Tutoring Center to sign in support of WAWU’s formation. Working consistently as a member of the OC (organizing committee) has brought me in community with student workers who love this campus enough to critique and improve it. Their spirit has steadily treated my nihilism and empowered me to seek membership on the bargaining committee (BC). As part of the BC I look forward to winning us wages that reflect rise in inflation, hourly guarantees, and an ameliorated Title IX processes. There is no excuse for the Title IX office to lose reports of harassment and leave the most vulnerable members of our community without a voice. My experience as a non-binary person of color in our community is a crucial perspective to have on a bargaining committee where issues of anti-racism, prevention of harassment, and discrimination will be addressed. A strong union is a community of support, and as a member of the bargaining committee I will continue to fight to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of our WWU community.

Hello! I’m Valerie Campbell, a senior undergraduate student here at WWU, and I am running for a Peer Advisor position on the bargaining committee. I joined WAWU in February and have rapidly organized my home department (Financial Aid) as well as find connections in other departments across campus. I am working behind the scenes to help run WAWU’s social media accounts and assist wherever I am needed. If elected as a member of the Bargaining Committee I wish to represent Work Study student employees and the unique struggles that we face. I envision a bargaining process where every voice is heard, and I believe we can negotiate a contract that does not compromise on justice, transparency, and equality. Western could not operate without us and it’s about time they recognized this and compensated us fairly!

Hi, I’m Gabe. I became involved in WAWU this January, but I had been hearing about WAWU since last spring. I got involved when I found out that WAWU is about uniting lots of kinds student workers. When I realized this, I was enchanted by the prospect of real shared governance at Western, a first step towards forcing Western to address the needs of its student workers.
Over the past two months talking to you, my peers, I know you want change. I hope that I can inspire and organize us to raise our expectations and to reach them by making clear and strong demands.
I’m seeking a position on the bargaining committee because I want to look Western’s administrators in the eyes, make demands, and know that they have to listen not because of who I am, but because of the collective power of student workers — because we keep Western running.
In my year and a half at Western, I have been strongly involved in Shred the Contract, and last spring I was elected as a Student Senator. These experiences have showed me that administrators don’t respond to strong arguments and rhetoric, the language they speak is power.
Together we have power, together Western must listen to us. I hope you choose me to channel our power.

Hi, my name is Noah Schexnayder! I’m running for one of the peer advisor positions on the bargaining committee, and I’m excited to work with everyone towards making Western a better place for student workers.

I’ve only recently started to get personally involved with WAWU, though I’m familiar with the union through my position on the AS Executive Board, where I helped approve a resolution in support of WAWU.

If I’m elected to the bargaining committee, I’ll make sure that it’s representative of the voices of the student body, and work with them to make progress on the challenges they face. I have experience sitting in committees and working with administration, so I can help negotiate without compromising on important issues.

Thank you, I’m happy to be working together with all of y’all, and hopeful that I can help make change happen on the bargaining committee!