April 10, 2023
Bargaining Update
Seven weeks ago we successfully completed our Strike Authorization Vote with a 91.7% yes vote. As you have probably seen, since the beginning of the year, we had been making painfully slow progress with UW Admin in bargaining. But we have good news, your investment and involvement has paid off. This past week we managed to reach tentative agreements on ten articles of our contract that we had been stuck on for months!
Friday, in our 24th bargaining session, we managed to reach tentative agreements on the following eight articles:
- Time Off and Leave
- MOU-Position Review Appeal Process
- Performance Evaluations
- Layoff, Rehire, Seniority
- Hours of Work
- Hiring, Promotions, and Transfers
- Grievance Procedure
- Classification and Reclassification
There are some big wins for research scientists/engineers in these articles which address major issues that had been identified in bargaining surveys. These wins create greater transparency in achieving promotions as well as in the case of loss of funding. Take a look here to see a table of the articles that we’ve reached agreement on and what we have won. You can also see what remains on the bargaining table (and where the holdup lies) here.
Compensation Proposal
Unfortunately, Friday’s session wasn’t all progress and wins. After sitting on the compensation proposal since the beginning of March, UW Admin came back to us with another pathetic compensation proposal. For annual increases, they proposed a 3.25% increase for 2022, 3% for 2023, and 2% for 2024 and 2025. They again offered a 0% market adjustment. I’m sure you all know it by now, but a reminder that by UW’s own research, they pay research scientists and engineers 30% below market. Admin also did not have responses on our Childcare or Housing proposals.
April Mass Meeting
Their pathetic position to our economic proposals Friday adds more proof that UW Admin are not going to move substantially on these issues without a fight; the time to fight for this is NOW. Our power exists in the fact that there are ~1400 research scientists and engineers at UW; it is absolutely critical that we all show up in the coming weeks.
Please plan to attend our April Mass Meeting on Thursday April 13th at noon. RSVP here. We will cover updates about bargaining, what we have won so far, what we are still fighting for, and what actions we will be taking in April and May in order to win a fair contract. Related, please hold April 24th at 1pm and May 11th at noon. There will be details about these dates shared at the Mass Meeting on April 13th. RSVP here.
Upcoming bargaining sessions
We invite you to attend an upcoming bargaining session, and when appropriate, to share an example of how a proposal would directly impact your life and your research. Our next bargaining session is Wednesday April 12th. Caucus starts at 8am. Please RSVP here. You can also see other upcoming April sessions at this same link.
Stay Informed
Stay up to date with our latest news and actions by following our social media accounts: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and also, reach out if you have any questions.
Additionally, if you’d like to keep up with what’s happening more broadly than just our Research Scientist unit, check out the UAW 4121 email updates. Also we are part of UAW Region 6, which represents over 100,000 people across 9 states.
In solidarity,
UWRU/UAW Bargaining Committee
Thaddeus Armstrong
Nick Bolten
Jai Broome
Erin Carll
Morgan Crotta
Iván Cruz
Abby Gambrill
Jay Mas Gilvydis
Anya Kalata
Julia Kobelt
Katherine Lasdin
Ellen MacLachlan
Katie Osterhage
Deborah Nemens
Van Redila
Annelise Smith
Galen Stewart
Jacob Tietsort
Stacey Wedlake
Ryan Will
Tricia Wu