Meet the candidates for Executive Board - 2026

Candidate for Vice President:

Sarah Swider

I am running for the position of union Vice President because I want to support the revitalization and strengthening of our union. This work is especially urgent as we face a period of financial, institutional, and political change and uncertainty. How we respond now will shape working conditions at Wayne State for years to come. A strong union is essential to protecting our jobs, our dignity at work and the public mission of the university.

I bring to this role both practical experience and scholarly expertise in labor unions and worker issues. Before entering academia, I worked as a political organizer and later worked for a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local, gaining firsthand experience with contract struggles, member outreach, and building collective power. I later joined workers and unions in protest during a period of major restructuring in South Korea, an experience that deepened my understanding of the pressures workers face during moments of institutional change. I have a master’s degree in industrial and labor relations and a PhD in sociology, and much of my academic career has been focused on worker movements, labor issues, and collective action. Within our union, I have served as a Council member and more recently as a member of the Executive Board. I will draw on these experiences and my union knowledge to work collaboratively with union leadership to strengthen our unity, elevate members’ voices, and build a powerful, engaged union capable of meeting the challenges ahead.

[WSU page]

Candidate for Treasurer:

Ali Salamey

I am currently nearing the end of my first term as Treasurer in the Wayne Academic Union—a role I would like to continue for another term with your support. During my time on the Executive Board, I have seen firsthand how critical unions are for securing, maintaining, and protecting workers' rights. During the last few years, I have been active in WAU in several capacities. I was on the Impact Bargaining Committee and the 2N Committee that worked on the Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) policy; I was on the Contract Bargaining Team that negotiated our current contract; and I have been the WAU Treasurer for two years.

I joined WSU Academic Staff in 2013 as an Academic Services Officer III in the Honors College. I secured ESS in 2018 and I was promoted to ASO IV in 2023. In the process of getting ESS and a promotion, I saw the dedicated work that WAU does for us. Also, during my time on the Contract Bargaining Team I heard from many of our members about the issues that are important to them and the level of professionalism they bring to work every day. I want to be an advocate for those priorities and to support new ways for our membership to achieve their professional and personal goals.

In addition, I am a longtime member of the WSU academic community. I completed my BA in English as an undergraduate through the Honors Program at WSU. Additionally, I have an MA in English from New York University and an MA in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan. Some highlights from my tenure at WSU: I have served on the Academic Senate for six years; I have been on two College Review committees; I was on several University-wide committees; I have taught seminars in the Honors College since 2013; and I have been on the Academic Affairs, Curriculum and Instruction, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committees of the Senate. An additional personal goal I have in running for Treasurer on the WAU Executive Board is to ensure that our Board is an inclusive and welcoming elected body that represents all its membership.

[WSU page]

Candidates for Member-at-Large:

Meghan McGowan

I am running for re-election as a member-at-large because we deserve reasonable working conditions that honor our expertise and for which we are compensated accordingly. We cannot achieve this without building and maintaining a strong union. We are battling the consequences of austerity: deferred maintenance, short-staffing, and being pitted against each other for scant resources. At the same time, our colleagues and students face an uncertain future regarding immigration statuses and our government is attempting to assert itself into our curricula (sometimes successfully). We deserve better and it is up to us to protect each other and our students.

During my time on WAU’s Executive Board, we’ve bolstered engagement across campus, and participated in rallies, marches, and community events including Stand Up for Science, Detroit’s May Day march, and Labor Day parades. Internally, I’ve organized anti-ICE whistle kit buildings, organizing trainings, an anti-doxxing lunch and learn, and a Know Your Rights event for international workers and students. Alongside Kess Ballentine, I co-founded and co-chair CAT, our internal organizing committee, and together we’ve built infrastructure for worker mobilizations across campus. I am also currently an elected member of Higher Ed Labor United’s Steering Committee and in active conversations with higher ed workers across the country. Prior to my work on EB, I held the roles of council representative, secretary of council, and member of Bargaining for the Common Good subcommittee. In addition to my practical experiences, I’ve trained to build labor power through Organizing for Power: Core Fundamentals, EWOC, and Project Rise Up.

As a health sciences librarian, I am fortunate to regularly interact with students, community members, staff, and faculty in the course of my day-to-day work. This uniquely positions me to continue to build relationships across our bargaining unit and advocate for our members.

If I am re-elected as a member-at-large, I commit to working toward an increasingly transparent union that is organized and responsive to member needs. Finally, if you liked the t-shirts that said “Detroit is a Union Town” - I’m your guy.

[WSU page]

Kess Ballentine

I have been proud to serve a term as our union’s Vice President. During this time, I have worked with three presidents to keep advancing toward a more member-driven, engaged, and powerful union. I worked with our previous president, Danielle Aubert, as well as our bargaining team, to improve member input, transparency, and mobilization during our last contract fight, resulting in more communication among our membership and significant contract wins.

Since then, I have worked with a variety of members across units, including members of the Executive Board and Council, to co-create our new Communications and Action Team. This committee, endorsed last year by the Executive Board, builds on our work in the last contract fight to train more member-organizers to create a sustainable organizing approach for a powerful union that can more easily communicate, problem-solve, and mobilize. This has involved working with other experienced member-organizers to design and deliver training (e.g., Strike School, revamped Organizing Fellows training, messaging training, etc.) to over a hundred of our members during my term.

Other work has been more focused on working with my fellow Executive Board members to improve internal processes, led by the vision of another previous president Jennifer Moss. As a member of the Budget & Personnel Committee, I have worked to review our budget to better reflect our current needs and invest more in organizing and events that benefit our membership. I have worked closely with members of the Executive Board to promote strategic planning, improved processes within the Executive Board, and resurrected the Ethics Committee.

At this point in my career, I am pivoting by running for the member-at-large position. This will ensure that I can spend more energy focused on CAT and internal organizing efforts as we move toward our next contract fight, enabling the new VP to take on service in B&P, the Ethics Committee, and supporting our new president, Hayg Oshagan – with whom I’ve been privileged to serve these last few months – in leading the Executive Board. I ask that you consider voting for me as one of your members-at-large, so I can continue contributing to our Executive Leadership, drawing on my skills as a macro social worker and institutional knowledge built during this critical time in WAU’s history.

[WSU page]