Let’s create a stronger and more equitable WSU

We are WSU Academic Student Employees (ASEs), who pride ourselves on being part of the community of hard workers that make WSU a world-class institution. However, many of us have experienced a lack of secure rights and protections in the workplace, struggle with low compensation, grapple with inadequate health care, and face uncertainty about our futures. We are therefore working together to form a union to create a stronger and more equitable WSU. 

By uniting our voices in solidarity with other unionized academic workers nationwide, we intend to collectively bargain with WSU and help make the University stronger and more equitable for present and future Cougs. We also intend to play a stronger role alongside GPSA and other advocacy organizations in pushing for increased higher education funding, fair visa and immigration policies in the US, and safer, more just working environments in all academic institutions.

We have witnessed the power of organized Academic Student Employees (graduate and undergraduate student employees who do research or instructional work at Universities) and Postdocs at UW and other Academic Workers at UC and elsewhere around the country dramatically improve their working conditions through unionization with United Auto Workers (UAW). On this website you can learn about some of the victories that academic workers have won after forming their unions with UAW. You will also learn about how, as ASEs, we can improve our own working conditions by unionization, and joining the other 80,000 academic workers across the country who have already formed unions with UAW.