Student workers at UC Santa Barbara dining halls vote to create Student Labor Union Thursday

ISLA VISTA, Calif. – A supermajority of student dining hall workers at UC Santa Barbara signed authorization cards to create the Student Dining Labor Union last Thursday.

This is the first undergraduate dining hall workers union on any University of California campus and the new union will join UAW Local 2865, the existing union for UC student workers, detailed Jasmine Rebollar, a current student dining hall worker and third-year student at UC Santa Barbara studying Aquatic Biology.

“This is an inspiring moment for us,” explained Jasmine Rebollar, who currently works at De La Guerra Dining Hall. “Student dining hall workers have spent 18 months reaching out to our coworkers to form this union, and I hope that the overwhelmingly positive response proves to UC that this really is the will of the majority. We’re ready to start negotiating our first contract as soon as they are.”

The new union represents the over 450 student workers at the four dining halls on campus and will be under the umbrella of UAW Local 2865 relayed Rebollar.

The student workers started their organizing efforts in April of 2022 to collectively bargain for higher wages, better working conditions, and an end to workplace harassment.

Rebollar explained that a process for reporting workplace harassment, especially between student workers and University employees, will be part of upcoming negotiations with UC Santa Barbara.

UC dining hall student workers face other unique challenges in their workplace as campuses are exempt from some standard statewide regulations on labor conditions and student workers are also not eligible for overtime.