BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – For the third time in three years, a group of student workers at Western Washington University have voted to form a union.

A majority of Western’s Operational Student Employees (OSEs) filed their intent to form a union with the state Public Employment Relations Commission on Friday, Dec. 5.

“It’s clear that Operational Student Employees want the same union protections their peers at Western already enjoy. While OSEs have secured important rights like layoff, increased sick time and a grievance process equivalent to our Educational Student Employee counterparts, this equity is partial. We look forward to finally forming our union, and having a collective say in determining our working conditions,” said M Wright, Art Department Staff.

My Bellingham Now previously reported that 1,100 OSEs went on strike over the summer after failing to secure a contract agreement with the university. Following the strike, WWU President Sabah Randhawa said that the school will remain committed to helping OSEs gain formal bargaining rights in the upcoming legislative session.

If passed into law, HB 1570 would allow OSEs to join WAWU-UAW 4929, which is the same union that WWU’s Educational Student Employees are a part of.