BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Hundreds of unionized workers at Western Washington University (WWU) held a rally on campus Thursday afternoon.
The coalition said in a news release that the event, called “Rally to Expand the Pie,” was called to advocate for increased wages for the school’s workers and more funding from the state legislature.
Workers from the university’s faculty, staff member and student employee unions all attended the rally. Those unions represent over 5,000 workers at WWU.
They claim the school’s wages have not kept up with the cost of living in Bellingham, leading to higher turnover among workers. They also attribute a lack of state funding for WWU as the reason for why they say the school is seeing budget shortfalls.
The rally took place at Red Square and was attended by Bellingham City Council Member Jace Cotton and State Representative Alex Ramel among others.
Western Academic Workers United (WAWU), the union of student workers, is currently in bargaining with the university for their first contract.
