June 13, 2023
Research Scientist/Engineers bargaining ran late into the night and we reached tentative agreements (TAs) with management on all remaining contract articles! This includes Compensation. The TA of our Compensation article includes:
-A 3.25% salary increase for anyone who did not receive a permanent raise between April 2022 and September 2023.
-Across the board increases for all Research Scientists:
- Year 1: 4%
- Year 2: 3.5%
- Year 3: 4.5% (split into 3.5% on November 1 2025 and 1% six months later).
-Increases to the salary range minimum of all job titles.
- For RSE-As and RSE-1s, Year 1: 6%, Year 2: 10%, and Year 3: 10%.
- For RSE-2, 3, and 4, Year 1: 4%, Year 2: 11%, and Year 3: 11%.
In order to reach a tentative agreement, we made the difficult decision to drop our childcare proposal. We reached agreement on an EPIC Memorandum of Understanding that supports a total of four .2 FTE trainers that can be filled by either Research Scientists/Engineers or Postdoctoral Scholars.
While we are thrilled to have completed this round of negotiations, a TA’d contract does not necessarily mean coming off the picket line. RSEs will be holding a Zoom meeting at 9:30am on Wednesday to make a collective decision about whether RSEs will return to work before or after we take a ratification vote. (RSVP for the 9:30am Zoom link here.) Postdocs are currently scheduled to begin bargaining again at 10am Wednesday, and all our fingers are collectively crossed they’ll reach agreement shortly thereafter.
We will also be holding a Zoom meeting at 5pm to share information about the ratification process and next steps. (RSVP for the 5pm zoom link here.)
Postdoc bargaining update
Postdocs will return to the bargaining table on Wednesday, June 14th.
Action Items
- Prioritize attending our direct action on Wednesday June 14th at 10:30am. We’ll be meeting at the Montlake picket and sharing details of the plan then.
- Sign up now for picket shifts for the remainder of the week. In order to further the visibility of our strike, in-person picketing is preferred when possible, but there are critical support tasks you can still help with via a remote picket shift. The picket at 45th/Memorial is quiet post-commencement, so main campus pickets will be at Montlake and 15th/Stevens. We also have pickets at SLU and Tacoma.
- Send this Info Session announcement to the faculty you work with and invite them to attend an online informational session for faculty tomorrow night. This will be hosted by faculty member Sharona Gordon with representative panelists.
- Share the following with your supportive community/colleagues as ways they can support:
- UW can’t control how you spend your free/vacation time; sign up for a picket shift before work in solidarity, join for a midday action on your lunch break, or take a half day of PTO and join for a picket shift.
- Continue dropping off snacks/drinks at a picket location for striking colleagues.
- We see donations to the hardship fund coming from our faculty and staff colleagues. Please keep it up and ask others who are not striking to do this same.
- Sign on to the letter in solidarity with striking international colleagues.
Tuesday’s Mass Action: Power to the Tower
Today, we met at the 15th & Stevens Picket, and hundreds of us marched and took our power to the tower – the UW Tower. We chanted through the streets of the U-District, making our voices heard by the local community and UW Admin in the Tower. The march was followed with speeches from members of our units, and we concluded with a march and chant around the building to amplify our demands. With the sheer amount of honking and cheering from people driving past, it’s clear the broader community is paying attention and supports our fight for fair contracts with UW. Today’s action reaffirmed our commitment of standing up for each other in our fight for fair contracts. THIS U-DUB GREED HAS GOT TO GO!
Power to the Tower: Hundreds of Research Scientists/Engineers, Postdocs, and community supporters march through the U-district to the UW Tower
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