So we’ve got a union… Now what?
Sign a membership form to confirm your union membership and show your solidarity. Membership forms are different from the authorization form you might have signed before our union election. Only union members can vote on upcoming union decisions like bargaining, ratification or strike vote, and later electing our Executive Board! Don’t worry — you won’t pay any dues until after our first contract is ratified!
- Unions are democratic organizations. Union members (that’s us!) run the union, and work together to improve our workplaces and working lives.
- PSUSWU is affiliated under our parent union, SEIU Local 503, which is a local of the international union organization SEIU.
- Now that we are officially recognized, we have access to new legal powers, including bargaining a contract. Recognition also means we now get to define the many different roles included in running our own sublocal. These roles include: executive leadership, worksite stewardship, a contract action team, and a bargaining team.
- For example, the Executive Leadership Committee (e.g., President, VP, Secretary, etc) are democratically-elected positions voted on by the workers from our sublocal to be delegates of the “General Council,” which is the legislative body of the state-wide union.
- Our General Council meets every two years to pass resolutions that guide our bylaws, money allocation, and state-wide union priorities; most resolutions require a simple majority vote of delegates to pass.
- The next General Council meeting will happen August 2026!
- There is also an international meeting every 4 years to choose our direction and agenda for the whole international union.
SEIU Local 503 Staff
- Sublocal union members are supported by staff who work full-time for their local parent union!
- SEIU Local 503 has about 170 staff members, including organizers, communications, legal, political, research, member assistance, and administration.
- We have one full-time staff organizer who supports SEIU members at PSU: Pranay P. (he/they)
What’s different now that we have union recognition?
Weingarten Rights
- We now have protections called Weingarten Rights that grant us the right to have a union steward or coworker attend and participate in any meeting with your supervisor that you suspect or have reason to believe is investigatory.
- Some of these rights include:
- The right to bring a union representative to your meeting and inform your boss that you are doing so,
- The right to ask if your meeting will be disciplinary in nature,
- The right to talk with your union representative before, during, and after your meeting,
- The right for your representative to fully participate and speak in the meeting, not just be a witness,
- And more! Explore the SEIU Weingarten Rights FAQ for more info.
Unfair Labor Practices
- An Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) is a legal complaint that can be filed against the university if they break labor law.
- The most relevant labor law is the 1973 Oregon Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA).
- Since PSU is a public employer, all students working for PSU are public employees covered by PECBA
- The Employment Relations Board (ERB) is an Oregon government agency that oversees labor and employer relations, hears ULP cases, and makes decisions about ordering fines, warnings, cease-and-desist orders, etc. It’s the agency that oversaw and validated the election, which made us officially recognized as a union!
- Unfair treatment of workers or the union as a whole can be the basis of filing a ULP and getting justice at work!
- Visit the ERB Unfair Labor Practices page for more info.
What’s the road map from here?
- Gather Ideas (**current step**)
- Bargaining Survey
- Bargaining Platform & Bargaining Team
- “Demand to Bargain” & start bargaining!
- Bargain
- Tentative Agreement
- Ratification
- Enforcement
Main Goal: getting a contract
How can you get involved in organizing?
Union Leadership & Organizing Roles
Steward (Worksite Leaders)
- This role starts after we get a contract!
- The steward’s role is to be very familiar with the contract, and to teach others during their onboarding at a new worksite about the contract.
- A steward also helps plan worksite actions against unfair labor practices or other issues at their worksite. They are a great resource for filing “Grievances”, a.k.a. Contract violations complaints.
Contract Rights Organizing Workgroup (CROW)
- CROWs are on-the-ground organizers, visiting worksites and engaging with student workers on campus.
- They operate as two-way communicators between the union’s leadership and all student worker union members. The outreach that CROWs do are crucial towards our victory of a good contract at the bargaining table!
Bargaining Team
- A group of student workers from diverse worksites using the Bargaining Platform to help write Contract Proposals.
- They bring proposals to bargaining/negotiation sessions with PSU administration and report back the union’s and management’s proposals to members of the union for democratic input.
- This team also has the ability to vote for a tentative agreement on proposals and bring the Tentative Agreement (or a pre-ratified contract) to union members for a ratification vote.
Executive Committee
- A committee of elected student workers, also known as the EC, that we get to structure ourselves by picking the size, shape, roles, and names of members.
- Required Roles: President, VP, Secretary-Treasurer
- Optional Roles: Head CAT, Lead Steward, Comms Chair, etc
- The EC members work toward following up on union members’ visions and input on what we want to bargain for. This sometimes means that the work done by EC overlaps with the bargaining team, and sometimes not – we choose what to prioritize.
- They also connect with larger leadership structures within SEIU, like the parent Local 503 group, or even international SEIU.
Next Steps
● Follow our Instagram for important updates!
● Subscribe to our Google Calendar!
● Check out our upcoming events:
Strategy Meeting with PSU Student Worker Union! CAW CAW!
Join the union’s weekly general strategy meeting to share the changes you want to see at your worksite, on campus, or in the broader community! Learn about organizing strategies and upcoming actions while contributing your own skills and experiences. All student workers are welcome!
- Next strategy meeting: April 30th 5:30-7:30pm FMH b 134
- Next General Meeting: May 6th 5:30-7pm SMSU 327
Union Shirt-Up Day!
Experience the energy of PSU’s wall-to-wall union solidarity by answering the call to action of wearing your union t-shirt with us! Every union on campus will be showing up to show off their union shirts in their workplaces.
- April 30th, ALL DAY!
Workers Coffee Social with all on-campus unions
Wanting to connect with the other unions on campus? Stop by the Park Blocks outside FMH to chat about things you want to see improved at your workplace and grab some free coffee and pastries!
- April 30th, 12:45-1:30 PM (Community Hour)
May Day Political Education Series with PSU-YDSA
PSU-YDSA and PSU Student Worker Union present our May Day Series, combining a teach-in on a new topic each with protest safety training to prepare for taking action. Join us for the last two Thursdays of April to learn about historical and contemporary labor movements on the local AND global scale, all while getting trained up to join them yourself!
- LABOR AROUND THE WORLD April 23rd, 5:00-7:00 PM @ PSU FMH B129
- STUDENT WORKER UNION FIGHT April 30th, 5:00-7:00 PM @ PSU FMH B129
WORKERS AND MIGRANTS UNITE! May Day Rally & March
Join 20+ labor unions and political & cultural organizations in and around Portland for a rally and march in the South Park Blocks for May Day 2026 (May 1st), standing for workers, immigrants, and communities fighting for dignity, fair wages, and justice!
- 12:00 PM Community Fair in Park Blocks
- 1:30 PM Rally & Cultural Performances
- 3:30 PM March to the S Macadam ICE Facility
Find us @psustudentworkers!
Become a union member today!