Organizing a Student Worker Union: Participant Action Research at the University of Oregon
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Date
2023-05
Authors
Meloy, Ella
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The University of Oregon Student Workers unionization is one of many campaigns led by undergraduate workers across the United States. The UO Student Workers also is the largest student-worker union drive ongoing in the US, currently, UO Student Workers seeks to represent over 3,000 workers at the University of Oregon. For this research, I use Participatory Action Research to explore how UO Student Workers reaches a majority of student workers to sign their union cards and begin exploring how the student organizers can form a lasting union for future years. The organizers were able to reach over 2,170 workers to sign cards and file for a unit to represent over 3,000 workers and are now continuing to fight for certification. Ultimately, through my research, I’ve found that the unionization campaign is feasible due to the tremendous amount of effort that a core group of organizers has put into the campaign. Most importantly, organizers in this campaign have learned the transformative power of organizing their workplaces and will leave the university with a new way of fighting for justice.
Description
81 pages
Keywords
organizing, student worker, University of Oregon, labor, participant action research