The California State University Employee Union hosted a rally in support of Associated Students, Inc. employees in the Library Quad on Tuesday, March 4.

CSUEU leaders, organizers and Sacramento State students were joined by representatives from various other unions and activist groups in response to the suspension of Jason Cortright, an employee that was allegedly suspended for discussing unionization and recent allegations of racial discrimination by former employees at the ASI Children’s Center.

Attendees gathered in a circle as multiple speakers presented various stories of workplace mistreatment, unionization-related news and general information about their mission and goals.

Periodically, the group would break out in chants, yelling phrases like, “When we fight, we win!” and “You’re not alone!”

Nabil Cristillo, senior organizer of the CSUEU Sac State chapter, said the CSUEU took swift legal action to support Cortright and fight his suspension.

“When we learned that Jason got suspended, we immediately turned into kind of a rapid action,” Cristillo said. “We filed legal charges, then our executive at CSUEU sent a demand letter to the Executive Director for ASI.”

During the rally, Cortright said the union’s support helped him feel less alone. Other attendees said unions are important in defending against workplace mistreatment and ensuring justice for workers.

As a member of the bargaining team, Cristillo offered insight on the issues ASI employees have raised. He said that he had been hearing allegations of racism from Children’s Center workers for some time.

“Some women started to reach out to me that resigned from the Childcare Center, telling stories about issues like blatant racism and a lot of microaggressions,” Cristillo said.

In between speeches, Cristillo said that the director of the ASI Children’s Center was allegedly put on administrative leave. The reason for the leave is currently unknown.

Cristillo also said that the CSUEU president sent a letter to Sac State President Luke Wood on Feb. 28, demanding something be done about Cortright’s suspension and that he shed light on the fact that women of color have reported racism.

The State Hornet reached out to the President’s Office for comment but was referred to the ASI press release.

Catherine Hutchinson, president of the CSUEU Channel Islands chapter, was one of the speakers at the event. She said CSUEU is determined to defend both union and non-union workers within Sac State and ASI.

“You heard the couple stories today that the workers were not being treated fairly, getting abused, facing discrimination and everything,” Hutchinson said. “We’re an organization that won’t tolerate that, so we decided to come in and help them get unionized so they could fight for their rights.”

Once speeches were finished, CSUEU representatives spent time recruiting and educating interested students about the union, their mission, how they could help and more.

Cameron Wyatt, a third-year computer science major, said he worked as an IT specialist for the College of Continuing Education for nine months before being let go with only two and a half days notice, prompting him to join CSUEU shortly after. Wyatt said that student employees have faced resistance from campus administrative groups in efforts to organize.

“We have a lot of different departments on campus really heavily pushing back on us,” Wyatt said. “They don’t want us talking to students. They don’t want them knowing their rights, because someone who’s informed on their rights is someone who’s a lot harder to push around.”

Wyatt said he supports the formation of a union to advocate for worker’s rights after unions made him feel empowered to resist injustices following his own experiences of workplace mistreatment.

“Unionization is the most powerful tool available to student assistants, especially in a job scene where the employers and managers view us as qualified interns,” Wyatt said. “We need protection, and I think we need to be able to speak our voices up to prevent situations like what has happened to me in the past and what has happened to many, many others.”

Cristillo said that workers have a right to obtain third-party support, such as that of a union, to resolve worker mistreatment in situations like Cortright’s, Wyatt’s and the Children’s Center.

“Workers feel like their only outlet to issue resolution is reaching out to HR and what they’ve really quickly learned, specifically in the Health and Childcare Centers, is that HR is not your friend,” Cristillo said.

ASI Executive Director Hoan Nguyen published a press release on March 4, which said ASI is not anti-union and is taking a neutral position. The release also said ASI is aware of the claims made by CSUEU regarding Cortright’s suspension and allegations of discrimination and inappropriate conduct at the Children’s Center, and that they will be handled appropriately if the investigations reveal any policy violations.

ASI also confirmed Cortright’s suspension due to allegations of “inappropriate and intimidating conduct” toward student employees. The release said the suspension is standard practice during an ongoing investigation and is not retaliation for promoting and supporting unionization.

RELATED: Former ASI Children’s Center employees allege director cultivated hostile work environment

Hutchinson said that CSUEU remains steadfast in support of CSU employees’ right to collective bargaining. She said that CSUEU aims to highlight the value of unionization for workers across the CSU system.

“We wanted to share a couple of stories showing the reason why these people need a union,” Hutchinson said. “We’re trying to organize a lot more workers.”

Abigail Tafoya, a third-year health sciences major working for ASI Peak Adventures and an organizer for CSUEU, said she came in support of other ASI employees.

“I’ve heard stories from other people, and it personally affects me,” Tafoya said. “I would want to work for a company that wants to uplift their workers, not put them down.”

Wyatt said he was grateful for the outpouring of support from the Sac State community, especially after experiencing workplace mistreatment firsthand.

“I feel grateful that there’s this many people that are willing to stand behind the action and represent our student assistants who’ve been treated unfairly,” Wyatt said. “Seeing this many people rallying behind this cause gives me a sense of motivation.”

Cristillo said he shared Wyatt’s sentiments, but that the work towards labor rights is far from over. He said he believes workers have a right to voice grievances without fear of retaliation from their employer.

“The goal, ultimately, is that workers at ASI have the right to form their union without fear of intimidation and retaliation,” Cristillo said. “They want to be able to have the same rights that all the CSU staff faculty on campus have, which is collective bargaining.”