April 25, 2023
Rally
Thank you to the 400+ Research Scientists, Postdocs, and community members who attended our Fair Contracts NOW Rally yesterday! Mary Gates Hall was absolutely packed. It was exhilarating to come together and feel the solidarity in our fight to win fair contracts with UW. As a reminder, these are our demands.
Where we are in Bargaining
- We’ve participated in 27 bargaining sessions since August of 2022. You can see information about the 40 articles/MOUs we’ve reached agreement on and what we have already tentatively won here.
- You can see an overview of the remaining articles that we are negotiating here.
- We currently have 1 bargaining session scheduled in April and 5 tentatively scheduled in May. Last week, UW proposed that we need a mediator. This means considering a third party’s schedule and will almost certainly result in further delays.
What’s Next and What You Can Do!
If you weren’t able to make it to the rally, there are still many things you can do to help whether you work on campus or you work remotely. It is going to take participation from each and every one of us to win the fair contracts we deserve.
First: there are several actions you can attend in the coming several weeks:
SLU Fair Contracts NOW Rally on 5/1, 12pm- Board of Regents Public Comment on 5/11, 12pm
Second: there are things you can do at your computer in the next 5 minutes:
Sign on to this letter that will be distributed to Department Chairs
email this form letter to the faculty you work with to make sure they are aware of what is happening
Share how a fair contract will impact your life via a Fair Contracts NOW profile
We are back at the bargaining table this week for our 28th bargaining session and we sincerely hope to make progress in negotiating with UW. Until we see progress, we will continue to escalate. In February, 92% of the 959 RSEs who voted in our Strike Authorization Vote voted YES. Striking will always be a last resort; for each of us, a work stoppage would be disruptive, not without personal challenge, and could pose difficulty for the work that we are passionate about. Striking is one of the strongest tools we have to secure a fair contract, and we are preparing now so that if it is absolutely necessary, we are ready. It is our sincere hope that UW Administration will stop breaking the law, bargain in good faith with us, and that all of this strike preparation work will never have to be used.
That said, third, these are the ways you can help prepare for a strike, should it be necessary:
Sign up to be a strike captain
If you are able, donate to our strike fund or share this link with your network. In the event of a strike, this fund will be used to supplement the strike support that RSEs would receive from the UAW strike fund.
Share this Pledge to Not Cross the Picket Line with other UW community members
Also, in case you haven’t heard, we’ve already got strong community backing! On April 19, we received strike sanction from MLK Labor Council. This Council is composed of union affiliates of more than 150 unions representing over 100,000 members; if a strike is needed, these other unions are asked to honor our picket lines. Additionally, the Joint Council of Teamsters 28 representing thousands of other workers around King County also approved our request.
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