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!

My name’s Willa, I use she/her pronouns, and I am a graduate student in Geology with a TA position in Science, Math, and Technology Education (SMATE). I’m one of over 1000 student employees doing a lot of the educational labor that makes Western run, and I’m grateful to represent our unit on the bargaining committee. I am focused on holding the university accountable to their stated value of a “Commitment to equity and justice, and respect for the rights and dignity of others”. The university has a lot of catching up to do in providing us with a living wage and basic rights and protections as workers, and a good first contract for our union would see Western finally walking the walk on equity and justice. Through my year and half organizing with WAWU I’ve learned so much about building community and power. I’m inspired by the leadership and care found in every department, and I’m committed to representing every voice in our negotiation process.

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.

First and foremost, I aim to be an advocate for the students and student employees of Western, and I hope to bring not my voice but the voice and input of the students and community members to ensure that they receive representation and have their thoughts and views heard. I am a strong advocate for transparency and safety on campus, especially in terms of university policy and training practices, and I have experience managing and training from a decade in the service industry as well as experience in academia from my current position as Makerspace Student Manager of the STC and receiving schooling from multiple colleges and universities over the years. I’ve minored in business administration and have first hand experience establishing my own side businesses and working with others to train them and bring them into the operation of those businesses, and my main goals are to expand upon that experience and offer aid and advice to whoever needs it, however they may need it, in pursuit of fair and equitable representation for all students and student employees across campus.