We are:
Tutors, Teaching Assistants, Peer Advisors, Research Assistants, Library Assistants, Faculty Assistants, and Researche Advisors
We do a massive amount of the teaching, instructional, and research work that makes WWU run on a daily basis
We filed a petition with the WA State Labor Board in December 2022
We passed a law to clearly enshrine collective bargaining rights for academic student employees at regional universities in WA
The WWU Administration has supported our legal right to unionize
We won our Union with a 98% YES vote in May 2023
We have been bargaining our first contract with WWU Administrators since October 2023
Pledge to vote YES in our Strike Authorization Vote on May 6-9 because WWU Admins are unwilling to negotiate over our top priority issues.
ESE Bargaining Session #17 Updates
Last week we had our 17th bargaining session! While we continue to make progress with WWU admin, it’s clear that they see us differently than other employees on campus. In response to our proposal of paid vacation time for hourly workers, WWU admin rejected the...
ESE Bargaining Session #16 Updates
We hope that your spring break was restful and that you’re heading into this new quarter rejuvenated and ready to stand together to fight for our first contract as Western Academic Workers United (WAWU-UAW)! We had our sixteenth bargaining session with WWU Admin...
ESE Bargaining Session #14 Updates
TLDR: Add your name to our petition and add your voice to our rally to show Western that we are committed to finding a solution where our reality doesn’t mean student workers have to drop out of school. As winter quarter is winding down, bargaining negotiations for...
ESE Bargaining Session #13 Updates
TLDR: RSVP to come to our Western Academic Workers United (WAWU) Monthly Membership Meeting (3/12) to get updates and learn more about what’s been going on! Also, if you haven’t yet, sign our “Fully Fund Western” petition!! This week in bargaining between our union’s...
ESE Bargaining Session #12 Updates
TLDR: Add your name to our “Fully Fund Western” petition RIGHT NOW to show the university that we are committed to working together to save our educational and working experiences from budget cuts. We had another day of bargaining yesterday, where we brought...
ESE Bargaining Session #11 Updates
TLDR: Us Educational Student Employees deserve competitive living wages, tuition waivers, and fee waivers. Western’s biggest excuse is that they don’t have “enough money” to make that happen, but we know that WWU is the least funded university in WA per student. If...
ESE Bargaining Session #10 Updates
TLDR: Western brought their wages proposal to the table this week and… spoiler alert it shows that they absolutely do NOT value the labor we bring to this university. We NEED to hear your thoughts on their proposal. Come to the MMM tomorrow (Tuesday, 2/13 at 5:30 in...
ESE Bargaining Session #9 Updates
TLDR: Western continues to cling to the “bare legal minimum” protections that are obviously not cutting it for Educational Student Workers. Their reluctance to move towards us in the face of research and testimonies is yet another delay tactic in creating our first...
ESE Bargaining Session #8 Updates
Welcome to your weekly bargaining updates! As usual, we are keeping up the pace of bargaining to build our first contract as soon as possible. This week, we passed eight counter proposals across the table to Western Admin. We made movement towards WWU on Health and...
ESE Bargaining Session #7 Updates
As Educational Student Employees, we won the right last year to collectively bargain for our working conditions. Our counterparts who do similar work with different job titles (Operational Student Employees) are currently fighting for their own recognition from...
Check out our Bargaining Center page
We’re currently bargaining a first contract. Visit the bargaining center to learn more!