UCW-CWA Members Win Sick Leave for On-Campus Workers

Last month, UCW-CWA members alongside student workers at Berea College in Berea, Ky., won a victory after the college administration announced a policy providing sick leave. As a Work College, all students at Berea work on-campus jobs for at least 10 hours per week doing everything from serving food to maintenance and repairs.

Members of United Campus Workers-CWA (UCW-CWA) at Berea identified the lack of available sick leave as an issue in 2023, created literature to educate student workers in the fall of 2024, and formally began their campaign in February of this year. More than 1,500 student workers employed at Berea College will now have a clearly documented system to take time off for sickness, mental health reasons, parenting responsibilities, or bereavement. Previously, there was no written policy, and workers say they were often directly or indirectly pressured to work in these situations.

“Sick leave was a loosely defined policy that was granted in instances few and far between,” said UCW-CWA member and lab assistant Daphne Floyd. “Nearly everyone I meet feels the pressure that if you don’t show up to work sick, you’ll get behind on your labor contract, get put on labor probation, or even get kicked out of college. By denying us sick leave, Berea encouraged us not to rest while sick and to risk getting others sick.”

Student workers at Berea also won protections against unpaid work, protections against doing work not included in their job contract, and the ability to work an off-campus job without facing disciplinary action.

UCW-CWA members in the Student Workers Organizing Committee fought for these wins by circulating a petition, holding meetings, tabling and canvassing across campus, and regularly reaching out to President Cheryl Nixon about the issue throughout the Spring 2025 semester.

A Student Director of Community Engagement and proud UCW-CWA member, Rhea Clayton, said, “Student organizing works. We’ve been working on this campaign for months, and it’s an exciting moment to see the results of our organizing. We will continue to fight for students' rights within the workplace, including paid sick leave.”

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.