Membership

Join the SSU today! Membership is an opportunity to participate in Union democracy, get involved in Union governance, and attend Assembly Meetings where the future shape of the Union is discussed.

To join, just fill out this form and a member of Union Leadership will be in contact with you!

Membership Requirements

To ensure that the Union maintains its ability to organize as a collective body against exploitation, there are some eligibility requirements for members.

First, members must be current Willamette University students (former students may be regarded as alumni members, but can't participate in Union governance). This ensures that the Union is representative of the current needs of the student body and can work as a collective.

In addition to being current students, there are some activities or occupations that are incompatible with Union membership. These ineligibilities only apply if you're currently engaged in them; if you were formerly in the military or a landlord, for example, but no longer are, you're entirely able to join.

Because the Union is opposed to the coercive forces of states and seeks to organize against those forces, armed government employees may not join the Union. Police or law enforcement officers, both government-employed and privately-employed prison guards (excluding inmate welfare staff), and active members of militaries or armed forces (including the United States Armed Forces, National Guard, or state militaries) are all ineligible. Again, this doesn't apply if you have since switched occupations.

Because the Union exists to empower workers to Bosses cannot join the Union. For membership purposes, bosses include the following two categories:

a) Controlling owners of businesses with subordinate workers. This doesn't include small investors who lack decision-making powers in the companies they invest in, or the owners of small businesses that employ only family members or partners who share profits.

b) Managers, executives, or supervisors with the power to both hire and fire workers. Workers with leadership responsibilities, workers who only participate in hiring but cannot unilaterally fire an employee, . A person in this category must have the unilateral authority to fire subordinate employees.

Along similar lines, since the Union believes that hoarding land to extract rent is an exploitative activity we must organize against, landlords who collect rent from three or more owned properties cannot join the Union. If you sublet your apartment or house, collect rent from people you live with, or are in any situation not involving three or more properties that you own, this ineligibility does not apply.

The prohibition on students in the above categories becoming members may be waived by a three-quarters vote of the Union Assembly. If you'd like to seek such a waiver, please email editor@wussu.org with some details on your situation.

For more details on membership, please consult the Union Constitution and/or email editor@wussu.org with any questions.