Dear Colleague,

Our second day of bargaining with UW Admin for our next Academic Student Employee (ASE) contract is in the books: hear the highlights from Soohyung Hur (ASE Head Steward, Geography) and Ben Anderson (Bioengineering). 

So far, we have proposed twenty articles to Management that outline key priorities for our next contract; Management has not presented any new proposals or counter-proposals in our first two bargaining sessions.

We passed a number of important proposals today on equity-related articles, healthcare, wages, fees, and benefits. We reached Tentative Agreements (TA) to maintain our current contract language on four articles: Preamble and Articles 2 (Recognition), 23 (Severability), and 24 (Sub-Contracting).

The specific proposals we put forward today included:

Article 20 (Non-discrimination and Harassment); MOU on Empowering Prevention and Inclusive Communities; New MOU on Transitional Funding Program

ASEs experiencing harassment are often pushed out of UW (and academia) due to the fundamental power imbalances caused by funding structures, lack of support in identifying alternate work environments, and more. To provide a safety net for ASEs trapped in exploitative work environments, we proposed the creation of a Transitional Funding Program that will support ASEs to safely transition out of harmful working conditions with no loss in pay or benefits. 

Additionally, we proposed clearer and stronger language to define abusive conduct and behavior in the workplace, expanding access to gender-neutral bathrooms, and measures to increase transparency and accountability around the University’s processes for dealing with harassment and discrimination. 

Finally, we proposed increasing funding for the Empowering Prevention and Inclusive Communities (EPIC) training program for a total of 9 ASE EPIC trainers. This will create much-needed capacity to provide trainings for all ASEs across 180 departments, develop and implement new curricula, and more. 

Article 13 (Insurance Programs); Appendix I (GAIP)

Through strong collective action (including the 2018 one-day ASE strike) in previous contract negotiations, we’ve won one of the strongest & most inclusive healthcare plans for academic workers in the higher ed sector. To maintain our position at the leading edge, hard-won by ASEs past and present, we proposed comprehensive improvements and upgrades to GAIP (our insurance plan for salaried ASEs), including decreased dependent premiums and pharmacy costs and improved coverage for mental health, physical therapy, dental, vision, and fertility care.

Article 7 (Fee and Tuition Waivers); Article 15 (Job Titles and Classifications); Article 17 (Leaves of Absence); Article 21 (Parking and Transit); Article 27 (Travel and Purchasing); Article 33 (Wages); Article 36 (Workspace and Materials); New Article (Relocation Stipend)

Simply put, our current compensation is unsustainable for the rapidly rising costs of living in the Puget Sound. We live in cities like Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma that are increasingly shaped by institutional greed. Our proposals on wages, fees, benefits, and leaves address the unequal impacts of this structural inequity by making the UW a more sustainable workplace for everyone, regardless of economic background. 

This includes critical structural improvements to our jobs through:

• expanded leaves and time off (for things like sickness, family, faith, and more)
• fixing inequalities in current payment structures by updating how Schedule 3 appointments are administered 

Additionally, we proposed a number of specific measures around benefits & policies to reduce financial burdens that academic workers are often expected to take on in service of our work. This includes an expanded reimbursement & travel policy, increased access to retirement programs, transit & parking, and a new article to provide a stipend to cover relocation fees. 

Finally, we proposed increasing our total compensation for our work that makes UW a $9 billion institution. We proposed that UW waive all student fees for ASEs as we should not be paying mandatory fees to work; additionally, we proposed increasing our base wages by 67% alongside an inflation adjustment to protect ASEs throughout the duration of the contract.

In the coming days, the 2024 ASE Bargaining Portal will be added to the UAW 4121 website. In the meantime, you can access & read the proposals from today’s bargaining session here.

Questions? Want to get more involved? Reach out to ase-bargaining@uaw4121.org.  

In solidarity,
ASE Bargaining Team

Natalie Wellen (Applied Mathematics)
Justin Applegate (Biochemistry)
Tahiyat Rahman (Physics)
Anastasia Schaadhardt (Information School)
Soohyung Hur (Geography)
Yuying Xie (Geography)
Francesca Colonnese (English)
Candice Young (Molecular & Cellular Biology)
Natasha Crepeau (Mathematics)
Nelson Niu (Mathematics)
Jayden Wood (Mechanical Engineering)
Peter Lindquist (Earth & Space Sciences)

Dear Colleague,

We kicked off bargaining for our next Academic Student Employee (ASE) contract with UW Admin today!

In our first bargaining session, we presented our Initial Bargaining Demands (IBDs) as ratified by thousands of ASEs across the UW alongside proposals on seven articles and reached agreement on ground rules for bargaining.

In their initial proposal for ground rules, UW Admin put forth language limiting who could represent union members at the bargaining table. We are fundamentally committed to our bargaining team being democratically elected by members. We reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on ground rules only after Management agreed to remove this language and add language to ensure accessibility of bargaining sessions.

Management did not introduce any proposals today aside from ground rules.  

The specific proposals we put forward today included:

Articles 8 (Grievance Procedure); 29 (Union Rights); 30 (Union Security)

Through previous rounds of bargaining, we’ve won in our current contract some of the most robust grievance procedures in the higher ed sector to resolve workplace issues. This includes interim measures and extended grievance filing timelines for ASEs facing harassment and discrimination, which has set industry standards for contract language addressing these issues. To keep our contract at the forefront of addressing workplace issues, we proposed interim protections and improved timelines for filing all grievances alongside other measures to strengthen our ability to assert our rights as workers.

We also proposed stronger language to ensure that each and every ASE receives a union orientation, access to on-campus meeting spaces, and more in line with comparable peer institutions. In a similar vein, we proposed new language in Article 30 (Union Security) to add an option for ASEs to join our union during quarterly registration online.

Article 5 (Childcare)

Caregiving ASEs across the UW experience a unique intersection of extreme stresses associated with working in an academic environment while raising children. Those of us with dependents often face severe financial hardship, mental health challenges, and hard decisions about the tradeoffs of continuing work while maintaining access to childcare. Our proposal expands access to childcare services and resources through increasing the Childcare Assistance Fund, enabling access to the Dependent Childcare Assistance Program (DCAP), guaranteeing spaces at UW childcare facilities and programs, and more.

New Article (Immigration)

We proposed a new article on immigration to address the unique challenges that international and undocumented ASEs face at the UW, including limited access to funding opportunities, navigating complex levels of bureaucracy, and shouldering the impacts of xenophobic policies alone. To ensure that the UW can become a truly boundless and global workplace, we proposed a new article that includes:

• Reimbursing immigration-related fees
• Providing and funding immigration-related legal assistance
• Implementing a peer-led advising program in collaboration with the UW International Student Services (ISS) and UAW
• Providing paid leave for immigration proceedings and election voting
• Facilitating remote work options for ASEs facing travel restrictions
• Offering re-employment opportunities for ASEs affected by immigration status
• Providing tax assistance for international ASEs
• Advocating for due process in immigration investigations

In the coming days, the 2024 ASE Bargaining Portal will be added to the UAW 4121 website. In the meantime, you can access & read the proposals from today’s bargaining session here.

Questions? Want to get more involved? Reach out to ase-bargaining@uaw4121.org.