AND BRING THAT TO YOU AS SOON AS WE CAN. NOW TO A HISTORIC VOTE THAT COULD SHAPE THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. THOUSANDS OF STUDENT WORKERS HAVE NOW VOTED TO JOIN A UNION. GOOD EVENING. I’M EDIE LAMBERT AND I’M GULSTAN DART. THIS WOULD BE THE COUNTRY’S LARGEST UNION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT WORKERS. AND KCRA 3’S MARICELA DE LA CRUZ SPOKE TO ONE STUDENT ASSISTANT ON WHY HE JOINED THE FIGHT TO UNIONIZE. A HISTORIC VOTE THROUGHOUT THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM IS BRINGING NEARLY 20,000 STUDENT WORKERS TOGETHER, WORKING SHOULDN’T BE A BARRIER IN OUR WAY. A BARRIER PREVENTING US FROM GETTING AN EDUCATION OR PURSUING AN EDUCATION. AND I FEEL LIKE THAT’S KIND OF HOW THE SYSTEM IS THAT THE CSU SET UP AS STUDENT WORKERS CELEBRATE JOINING THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES UNION. A PERSONAL WIN FOR CAMERON MACEDONIA, WHO LAST SEMESTER WAS MOTIVATED TO DEMAND PAID SICK TIME AFTER NOT HAVING THE OPTION TO STAY HOME. EITHER I STAY AT HOME AND I’M NOT ABLE TO PAY MY RENT BECAUSE I LIVE BY MYSELF, OR I JUST POP SOME IBUPROFEN AND TRY TO DEAL WITH IT. SUPERIORITY, AMONG OTHER CLAIMS, STUDENT WORKERS SAY THAT THE CSU SYSTEM HAS SHIFTED MORE WORK TRADITIONALLY DONE BY UNION STAFF ONTO STUDENT ASSISTANTS WHO ARE LOWER PAID, HAVE FEW BENEFITS AND WHO HAVE THEIR HOURS CAPPED AT 20 PER WEEK. THE CSU IS LARGELY FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT, FIRST GENERATION AMERICAN, LARGELY STUDENTS OF COLOR. SO YOU KNOW THESE THESE DEMOGRAPHICS, ESPECIALLY IN HIGHER EDUCATION, ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED. UM, JUST EVEN IN THE SENSE OF FINANCIAL AID OR EDUCATION ACCESSIBILITY. TODAY’S DECISION IS ALSO SEEN AS A WAY TO BETTER PREPARE STUDENTS AS THEY GET READY TO GO INTO THEIR PROFESSIONS. THE STUDENT WORKER JOBS ARE A LOT OF STUDENTS FIRST JOBS, AND IF WE CAN GET STUDENTS TO HAVE A VERY FIRST JOB, THAT IS A UNION JOB, THEN THEY CAN LEARN, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN DEMAND THE THINGS THAT THAT YOU NEED. YOU CAN’T. YOU DON’T HAVE TO JUST ACCEPT IT’S UNCLEAR WHEN BARGAINING WILL BEGIN, BUT UNTIL A DEAL IS REACHED, KERN STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS WILL STAY THE SAME. MARICELA DE LA CRUZ, KCRA THREE NEWS. AND TONIGHT WE ARE GETTING SOME COMMENTS FROM CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY. IN A STATEMENT, THEY SAID IN PART, THE CSU RESPECTS THE DECISION OF STUDENT ASSISTANTS TO FORM A UNION AND LOOKS FORWARD TO BARGAINING IN GOO