The Occidental and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 Collective Bargaining Agreement for Student Worker Units is a new union contract applying to most Occidental student workers this school year. SEIU Local 721 is the largest public sector union in Southern California, representing over 100,000 workers across sanitation, non-profits and more.
According to the Information for Student Workers on the Occidental College website, the contract covers SEIU’s exclusive representation of the bargaining unit, the process for collecting dues and employee wages and benefits. The contract includes almost all student workers, excluding students in supervisory roles, and will be automatically renewed every year Sept. 30, unless an amendment request is made in advance.
Vice President for Marketing & Communications Perrine Mann said that Occidental continues to update information related to the new contract. Mann said students are encouraged to read the FAQs and full agreement online.
“We value the important contributions of our student workers and want to see them thrive at Occidental,” Mann said via email. “We were pleased to reach an agreement in April that reflects our shared commitment to supporting students and maintaining a strong campus community.”
According to their website, Rising Occidental Student Employees (ROSE) has been working toward labor union representation for Occidental student workers.
ROSE representative Casey Scott (senior) said the contract bargaining cycle began in the spring of 2024 after a successful election, and the bargaining process continued until April 2026. Scott said factors like work-study availability and tuition increases brought together different interest groups to discuss how they could best resolve their issues with the college.
“We started with very big goals of hoping to get the college to divest from weapons manufacturers and apartheid,” Scott said. “We pushed for more immigration protections for students on campus, as well as larger wage increases.”
Scott said while some original demands remain unanswered, the contract includes many positive changes.
“The earnings cap is no longer here,” Scott said. “We now have representation at the table for disciplinary meetings, so you can have union representation to come and talk with you through issues at work if you have them.”
According to the contract, student workers may now work up to 20 hours per week for a total of 225 hours per semester. Resident advisers with other campus jobs are allowed to work up to 29 hours per week, not exceeding 370 hours per semester.
Scott said students with work-study had trouble finding and keeping jobs after reaching the earnings cap.
“The allotment of priority to work-study students is really important,” Scott said. “It’s important that work-study students have priority in the hiring process so that they can meet their work-study first, because that’s a part of their ability to go to school here.”
Scott said ROSE will continue to advocate for an environment prioritizing worker protections and student concerns, including divestment from weapons manufacturers and fossil fuels, environmental accountability and immigration enforcement protections.
Lex Meyer (junior), a representative of ROSE, said she was satisfied with the results of the negotiations.
“It’s frankly really impressive to have a functioning undergrad union,” Meyer said. “We got this contract, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not more to do.”
Meyer said the bargaining process will continue to push for greater protections for resident advisers. Consistent with previous years, resident advisers under the new contract are not paid hourly, but paid by stipend.
“We were bargaining for better protections for our RAs because the RA position [is] not paid very highly,” Meyer said.
Meyer said ROSE remains interested in more wage increases and better treatment for all student workers and staff, because the current 1.5 percent wage increase serves as payment for union dues.
“The full-time staff are also unionized and have a contract that ties their wages to our wages, in that if we get a wage increase, they have to also get a wage increase,” Meyer said. “Some of the full-time staff still make around minimum wage.”
Meyer said students would benefit from familiarizing themselves with the conditions and consequences of the contract.
“ROSE will definitely be holding info sessions, different town halls, explaining the contract, and explaining shop steward elections,” Meyer said. “We’re really striving to make things as accessible as possible for student workers to understand their rights.”
Contact Vivian Pei at vpei@oxy.edu and Theodore Fierman at fierman@oxy.edu
