February 25, 2022
Our next Monthly Meetup will be on Thursday, March 3rd at 4pm. We will discuss topics covered below, and would love to hear from you in advance about what you’d like to discuss as well! Please register for the zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkc-ugqz8oGdHCYiA_cbTPVOtR6gYnJrOV and let us know your preferred agenda items at contact@uwresearchersunited.org.
UW Challenges Inclusion of Hundreds in the Bargaining Unit (Fill out Your Attestation Today)
Support for unionization continues to grow each week as more Researchers sign authorization cards and get involved in the campaign! However, bargaining for Research Scientist/Engineers A-4 cannot begin until our democratic choice has been certified. This process is currently being stalled due to the University’s claim that several hundred RSEs are managers or supervisors who shouldn’t be included in the bargaining unit because it would create a conflict of interest. Last week, however, RSE representatives met with UW and a representative from PERC (Public Employment Relations Commission) who reinforced our position that “supervisor” and “manager” have a very specific meaning under labor law: namely that individuals must have independent authority to hire, fire, set pay rates, etc for other RSEs without the approval of their Principal Investigator(s) or Supervisor to be considered supervisors or managers and be excluded from the bargaining unit.
To prevent these objections from delaying the process unnecessarily, we have developed a plain-language summary of what it means to be a supervisor or manager under collective bargaining law here for RSEs to review and sign. Please take a moment to review and sign/submit an attestation today. Alternatively, if you have questions or are not sure this summary accurately describes your duties, please contact the Organizing Committee at contact@uwresearchersunited.org.
Dynamic Status Quo (Overcoming Misinformation to Problem-Solve)
Numerous RSEs have also been discussing strategies for dealing with problems that have arisen related to the “dynamic status quo” stage that is in effect during the certification period. There has been a significant amount of misinformation about this, as some units have been treating this period as a “freeze” on all wages, promotions, FTE adjustments, and the like. If you are being confronted with this problem, please contact us right away so a member of the organizing committee can help. While certain types of changes to terms and conditions can’t be made during status quo, the University is actually required under law to follow through with changes that had been planned prior to the filing of our petition.
Organize!
Like thousands of other UW employees before us who have chosen to unionize, together we can work through these problems and take action to speed the certification process along. An additional step you can take to help is to organize: that is, help reach out to your colleagues and ensure people have clear information and input about what’s happening. P Please fill out this quick google form with your availability to help and a colleague will reach out and team up with you: https://forms.gle/nfqWaRKtWBheTrqj9
In solidarity,
The UW Researchers United Organizing Committee