From the Wade King Student Recreation Center to Old Main, protestors marched to rally students and call out Western Washington University administration on Friday, in an effort to unionize and bring attention to the campus pro-Palestine encampment.
The march is on the heels of an on-campus pro-Palestinian encampment that started Tuesday and days before WAWU’s May 21 strike deadline where educational student employees' are attempting to start a union contract with Western.
The demonstration was led by Western's Arab Student Association, Jewish Voice for Peace, WWU Divest Apartheid Organization and Western Academic Workers United.
WAWU leaders spoke outside the Performing Arts Center around noon before collectively marching to Old Main where speakers from both the pro-Palestine organizations and WAWU expressed their combined frustrations with the university.
The picket signs ranged from “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” to “I have the right to live where I work.”
In its eighth month of bargaining with university administration, WAWU is vying for increased wages and job security, among other demands listed on the union’s website.
According to Kayla, a graduate chemistry teacher’s assistant at the march, who asked to keep her last name anonymous due to a fear of repercussions and safety, WAWU is participating because they want a fair contract.
“We haven’t gotten a fair contract, and we’ve been bargaining for eight months,” Kayla said. “I’ve been to the bargaining sessions and we’re really just asking for a conversation.”
According to Allison, a student employee in the engineering department, who asked to keep her last name anonymous for fear of repercussions and safety, WAWU participating in the march is sending a message to Western that they don’t want their money going towards the Israel-Hamas war.
One repeated chant was, “Divest from apartheid, invest in student workers.”
“I believe that we need a conversation so that we can come to a compromise,” Kayla said. “But [administration] were repeatedly saying no and that people are gonna get fired and that was it.”
After organizing next to Western’s Viking Union, feet from the encampment, protestors marched through campus. This movement came in the hope of gaining support from students as well as attention from Western administrators according to Lexy Aydelotte, a member of WAWU bargaining committee.
“We have to pressure them to come to the table because we’ve been talking about problems that students are dealing with, all of our issues,” Lexy Aydelotte. “We've been talking about them for two-and-a-half years, and still, Sabah has never come to the table, he’s never had a conversation with student employees about it with the union.”
According to Marcy Hammer, the human resource director and bargainer for Western, a request for mediation has been granted from the Public Employment Relations Commissions to negotiate with WAWU. With mediator Loyd Willaford in bargaining sessions, Hammer is “hopeful that this will help us reach an agreement as soon as possible.”
“It seems like a mediator would only work if you worked with them; they’re not going to magically resolve the issue,” Aydelotte said. “They’ve made it clear at the table and in their strategy that they seem to think this is a graduate student effort, and it’s not; we are majority undergrad, we’re 900 undergrads and 200 graduate students, and they’ve made [a] small movement towards graduate student issues, but they are not moving on the undergraduate issues like tuition relief or wages for undergrads.”
Protests and pickets are expected to continue into next week, where WAWU bargaining members plan to strike from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning Tuesday unless the administration can agree to all 37 proposals put forward by the union.
“We cannot do it without pressure and support from all of us,” One speaker at the march said. “It takes a village, and I see one here today.”
See more photos of the march below.
Peyton Perdue (she/her) is a campus news reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a second-year visual journalism major minoring in religion and culture studies. When she’s not reporting, you can find her taking pictures, reading or (most likely) napping. You can reach Peyton at peytonperdue.thefront@gmail.com.
Bodey Mitchell (he/him) is a campus life reporter for The Front this quarter. He is a second-year Journalism pre-major. In his spare time, Bodey can be found snowboarding or playing guitar. You can reach him at bodeymitchell.thefront@gmail.com.
Austin Wright (he/him) is a campus news reporter for The Front this quarter. He is a second-year journalism/news ed major. When he’s not reporting, you can find him playing ultimate frisbee, watching soccer or hiking. You can reach him at austinwright.thefront@gmail.com.
Adam Rideout Redeker is a campus life reporter for the Front. He is a third-year student studying visual journalism and Spanish. In his free time, Adam enjoys listening to music, spending time outdoors and hosting a weekly radio show on KUGS. Adam can be reached at adamrideoutredeker.thefront@gmail.com.
Julia Hawkins (she/her) is a opinions reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a fourth-year journalism/public relations major. Outside of reporting, Julia enjoys hanging out in The Planet office, baking and asking random people to pet their dogs. You can reach her at juliahawkins.thefront@gmail.com.
