4-29 Bargaining Summary

Apr 29, 2021 | ASE Bargaining Updates, Membership Updates

UAW 4121

Below you’ll find summaries of proposals passed today. As negotiations continue tomorrow, we will need to discuss our next steps and how to respond to any further offers from the UW administration. Please join an all-members May Day meeting on Saturday at 2pm! RSVP for this meeting now, and join the Slack to discuss and prepare with other members, including in the #questions channel.

Our UAW Slack is a great starting place for you to get involved in our organizing efforts! You can find channels like #Questions and #Organizing to get plugged in to all of our ongoing efforts, including organizing turnout for our May Day meeting. You can even connect with other union members in your department. If you’re having troubles joining the Slack, check out this FAQ.

4/29 Bargaining Summary

We had a busy day today! After considerable discussion and debate, we passed another what-if package proposal to UW administration at 2:10pm. UW admin presented a counter to us at 4:50pm. Following further extensive discussion, we passed another what-if package proposal to UW admin at 9:15pm. After some stalling at the beginning of the week, today we saw incremental changes on some proposals and larger changes on others. You can find a summary of the most recent proposals passed below, and a more detailed summary here.

In caucus today, there was considerable discussion while developing our two counter packages and strategizing next steps for continuing to build power both in this contract campaign and beyond. To continue this discussion, join us in bargaining (details on Slack) and attend Saturday’s membership meeting.

4/29 Proposals Summary 

  • Childcare: We proposed increasing the childcare stipend to $1,500 with a total fund of $90,000. Admin proposed increasing the stipend to $1350 and the total fund to $65,000 in 2021, $67,250 in 2022, and $70,200 in 2023.
  • EPIC & Equity Teams: We maintained our proposal to increase the number of EPIC trainers from 2 to 4. We decreased the proposed number of trained equity team members in the pilot program we are proposing from 2 trainers to 1 trainer per department for 10 departments. We additionally reached tentative agreement on Non-Discrimination and Harassment.
  • Wages: Admin increased their previous proposal to raise base wages 1% in 2021, 1% in 2022, and 1.5% in 2023. We maintained our proposal to increase our base wages to the median wages of peer institutions, but shifted to the say the median would be calculated on July 1 of each year, rather than at the beginning of the academic year. This would effectively be a 3% increase in the first year, and about a 9% total increase to our current base over the next 3 years.
  • Fees: To offset fees, we proposed an annual lump sum of $350 for all ASEs. Admin continues to propose current contract language on fees.
  • Health insurance: We maintained our last proposal and are still waiting for information from admin.
  • Duration: This package of proposals is for a 3-year duration.
  • International support fund: In the context of this package, we withdrew this proposal. However, we are committed to continuing to fight for this and other important improvements for international and undocumented students, as led by our International Solidarity Working Group.
  • Time off tracking: We agreed to language clarifying the time-off roll-over period from the calendar year to the academic year in Vacations and Leaves.
  • Grievance procedure: Admin moved off of their previous proposal to remove standing quarterly arbitrations, but is maintaining their proposal to remove our ability to directly file grievances at Step 2. We continue to propose maintaining current contract language, as the grievance procedure works well as it is.

You can find the more specific details about each of these here, and full text of all proposals here.

Next Steps

Our contract expires tomorrow! We are scheduled to meet with admin again from 9am-12pm, with union caucus beginning at 8:30am. All members are welcome and encouraged to participate in bargaining sessions — for more info on how to join, check out this page on the website.

In addition, please join an all-members May Day meeting on Saturday at 2pm! RSVP for this meeting now, and join the Slack to discuss and prepare with other members, including in the #questions channel.

In Solidarity,

UAW 4121 ASE Bargaining Committee
Douglas Avella
Vern Harner
Amzi Jeffs
Levin Kim
Kyle Kubler
Jacob O’Connor
Nayon Park
Marissa Parker
Solmaz Shakerifard
Samantha Thompson
Momona Yamagami