First Meeting for New Reed Workers’ Council

By the Reed Workers’ Council

URCHA (Union of Reed College Housing Advisors), SEIU 49, and Teamsters Local 305 announce the creation of the Reed Workers’ Council, or RWC for short. Our unions have expressed solidarity with one another throughout our struggles for recognition and contracts. Now we have decided that spontaneous solidarity is no longer enough, but sustained and institutional solidarity must be created. Not only do we seek to increase the cooperation between our unions, we extend our hand to ALL REED WORKERS! The college has shown repeatedly their unwillingness to work with our unions and workers across Reed. From the attempt many years ago to unionize all student workers to the many petty difficulties it took to get a simple contract for the custodians, it has become increasingly clear that Reed College seeks to wait out our unions and to hope that we will be complacent. This will not and cannot happen if our rights as workers are to be protected. In order to better preserve our own unions and to give resources to workers who have no union, the Reed Workers’ Council will seek to organize all workers employed by Reed, unionized or not.

Such an organization is radically different from a normal union. Instead of organizing workers around a trade, the RWC seeks to organize all workers under a specific location and under a single employer. The inclusion of both union bargaining units and non-unionized workers will make the RWC a place where those same workers without a union can voice their concerns in situations where the long process of getting a union may normally prevent them from doing so. All members of the RWC will be protected from surveillance by the college because by being in proximity to active bargaining units it will be unlawful for the college to peek in on meetings. Membership within the RWC is simple and without dues. One only has to be a worker that is an employee of Reed College, willing to show up to meetings, and willing to elect delegates to represent them. The RWC is a resource and one's participation is what one makes it. We ask for no obligations and expect no feats of heroism. The RWC is open to both student and full time workers. We operate under the principle that workers of all stripes united together are stronger.

Seeing as the Reed Workers Council is both a new and unprecedented organization, it remains necessary to define its organization with specifics. As mentioned above, the RWC seeks to organize all workers whether they are students, full timers, or if they are unionized. The RWC consists of two different bodies, the general congress and the central council. The general council consists of all members of the RWC and meets once a semester. The central council is made up of each union's stewards and delegates of non-unionized workers which meet once every Month. The central council will be the organization body mainly responsible for organizing events, fostering cooperations, and providing resources to workers who wish to unionize, among other things. Further details will be provided and voted on at the founding congress. Students who are not workers but who want to volunteer for the RWC are also more than welcome to attend general congresses and elect their own non-voting delegate to the central council.

The Founding Congress of the RWC will take place on November 2 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm at the old SEIU Union Hall on 3536 SE 26th Ave. Both prospective members and student observers are welcome. More specific times will be shared in the weeks before the founding congress.

To those who wish to help organize and spread the word as soon as possible, we would be more than willing to accept all the help we can get. Apart from helping out with our organizers directly, one can also do many things independently. The first thing one can do is to meet with your coworkers! You have a legal right to both association and protected concerted activity. Talk to them about your working conditions and ask them about theirs. Learn how your workplace works and encourage them to show up to the founding congress. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by participating. As said before there are no dues or mandatory expectations. To those who wish to work directly, please reach out to Calum Knight (calum6042@gmail.com) or Max Juszynski (max.geronimo.juszynski@gmail.com).