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Cal State Undergraduate Workers Vote To Unionize
Students walk on campus at Cal State Long Beach.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Twenty thousand undergraduate student workers across all Cal State campuses have voted to unionize, forming the largest union of undergraduates in the US. More than 97% of those who voted were in favor of joining labor union SEIU.
Why it matters: Student assistants say they organized for benefits and higher pay. Most of them currently make $16 an hour.
Why now: The undergraduate workers are the latest in a wave of organizing on California campuses. Earlier this month, graduate students and post-docs at Cal Tech voted to unionize. And just this week, the union that represents CSU faculty approved a new deal with the university.
What's next? The university system said in a statement that it will start bargaining with its student workers "in the near future."
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