Set in accordance with the Union Bylaws and Constitution, ratification dates are set for today, Wednesday, May 15th to 7pm on Friday, May 17th.

All ASEs who are UAW 4121 members in good standing will be eligible to vote on the ASE agreement. If you would like to ensure your eligibility to vote, you can do so here.

After a long day of negotiations before the strike began, on Tuesday May 14th, the UAW Bargaining Team made a “what-if” proposal to the University proposing that base wages increase to 12/10/10, variable rates to 3/2/2, and hourly rates to 8/5/5. The University then made a proposal that met these wage demands during the afternoon of the strike, when union members were sitting in Gerberding to demand a fair contract.

The University set the proposal to expire at 7pm that same day, so following consultation with strike captains and department leaders from the vast majority of campus departments, the bargaining team decided to tentatively agree to the contract 13-1.

In accordance with Washington state law, when a bargaining team tentatively agrees to a CBA, the union must recommend and support ratification to its broader membership. That means that union communications, resources, and materials are used in support of ratification.

Yes! Pausing the strike means that workers are not currently striking, meaning that ASEs are back at work unless the contract is voted down. If the contract is not ratified, members will be back on strike unless and until there is a membership vote to end the strike.

In accordance with Washington state law, the strike is on pause pending ratification. In order to end a strike, the membership must decide to do so, by agreeing to ratify the CBA. If members vote to ratify the contract, that will include agreeing to a No Strikes clause and the strike will end. Ratifying the contract would thus end the strike, and members would be able to receive the rights and benefits of the contract. If members vote not to ratify the contract, the strike would continue.

Ratification votes are secret ballot votes. After submitting their ballot, the voter will receive an email receipt. If a voter votes twice, their most recent vote will be counted.

No, in accordance with Washington state law, the strike is pending during the ratification vote.

You can read the full text of the tentative agreements here, as well as summaries here.

If members vote to ratify the contract, it will go into effect immediately (with the exception of any provisions that specify effective dates). Workers will have access to the benefits and protections right away, and wages increases will be implemented in July 2024, July 2025, and July 2026.

If a majority votes No on the contract, it is not ratified. Everything that comes next, as everything that came before, depends on the power of a continued strike. UW presented the tentative agreement as a package and proposals prior were “what if”, so if the members reject it, then it is unclear what UW would propose back at the table (their last on-the-record wage proposals were 7/6/6). Similarly, UAW presented its proposals beginning 5/13 as “what-ifs,” so its proposals would return to 39/8/8.

The bargaining team would try to reopen articles that were not in the economic package that the membership wanted to see changed, but reopening articles that were tentatively agreed to as single articles would require the employer to agree to renegotiate. The employer could also try to reopen articles that have been individually tentatively agreed to.

If workers ratify a contract, ASEs will maintain protections regarding appointments. As a result, the University cannot require workers to grade or complete research work beyond their appointments or beyond their workload protections. Per the ASE contract, the University cannot require a 50% FTE TA/GSI/RA to work more than 20 hours / week on average, 8 hours in a single day, or 30 hours in a single week. If workers cannot complete grading or research work within their work hours before the end of their appointments, they cannot be forced to do so. We encourage everyone to double check their appointment letters for the end of their appointment and service dates.

UW filed a legally specious Unfair Labor Practice against UAW on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024. The Union has prepared its response to the charge, and hopes that UW does the right thing and drops its charges, should members ratify the Agreement.