SB 5895 is DEAD, but NOT FORGOTTEN
Senate Bill 5895, providing the proper framework for operational student employees’(OSEs) bargaining rights, was killed in committee on February 5, 2024. The Working Wildcats woke up on Saturday morning to find SB5895 not included in the agenda for Monday’s Ways and Means Committee Hearing.
Throwing aside their weekends, alongside WAWU students, another regional college that is organizing their OSEs, they got to action asking our legislators “Why?” 172 supporters sent emails to their lawmakers at the state capitol, asking for the bill to get its fair chance on the agenda.
Seven regional college students, from Central Washington University and Western Washington University, woke up early on Monday morning to fight for the bill that everyone had worked so hard on crafting, supporting, and lobbying for. Leaving Ellensburg at 7 am, four sleepy Working Wildcats arrived at the Ways and Means Committee Hearing in Olympia, WA to demand answers from the lawmakers that claim to be pro-labor.
WAWU students arrived with shirts painted with “DON’T KILL SB5895”, which got the attention of many lawmakers and committee members but did not sway the decision of the bill’s silent opponent. While behavior remained civil, our dissatisfaction with the agenda was seen when not heard, as eight supporters (seven donning t-shirts) claimed the front row of the 6+ hour-long meeting.
Upon her election, Senator June Robinson of the 38th District had promised to support specifically “student unionization” if the bill came up for a vote. As the co-chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Robinson made the unilateral decision not to include the bill on the agenda that she was tasked to create. When taking the Senators’ comments at face value, Robinson’s fellow Ways and Means Committee members were not aware of the bill’s absence on the agenda. After being pressed, her justification was the “high fiscal note” and “broad” language of the bill, an issue that had not been brought up in the previous hearing.
After a 14-hour day at the Capitol, the Working Wildcats have much to consider in their next steps. With the bill being dead in the Senate, their fight for recognition is not over. The Working Wildcats will not stop until every student worker on campus has safe and equitable working conditions.This will not deter Working Wildcats from moving forward and seeking to win recognition. We know this legislation was a way, but not the only way, that recognition can happen.
