Add your name now and ratify our demand to increase the wage scale for Postdocs.
On February 7, the National Institutes of Health announced a new Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) salary scale for Postdoctoral Fellows to boost equity among Postdocs. Following terms agreed to by UW Postdocs and UW Admin in our collective bargaining agreement, we are preparing to renegotiate the experience-based minimum payscale, closing the pay gap and making the workplace more equitable for all UW Postdocs.
During the 2019 negotiations over our first contract, UW was unwilling to agree to adopt any future increases to the NRSA scale, citing uncertainty about the NIH budget among other factors. The NIH budget has now increased, and with the announcement of the revised scale, we are able to re-open the contract to ensure that the increases are adopted and Postdoc wages can increase. Not doing so would have serious impacts: it would cause UW to lag behind our peers, would increase our struggle to keep up with rising costs of living in Seattle, would make attracting Postdocs to UW more challenging, and would lead to even greater volatility when future increases are applied to grant budgets.
Please take a moment to add your name to ratify the proposal to incorporate the NRSA scale now! This letter is based on the input of many Postdocs during the recent mobilization meetings, and is a key collective action we can each take to help start bargaining strong. Our power to negotiate these increases comes from our collective involvement and willingness to speak up and advocate for why we believe these increases are necessary. Sign on to the open letter to UW admin here.
If you are not yet a member, joining right now will have a huge impact on our collective ability to win fairer wages in Seattle. Here’s the link to sign up. If you are unsure whether or not you are a member yet, get in touch at uaw4121@uaw4121.org.
UAW 4121 Joint Council
Tina Angerer
Douglas Avella-Castro
Leandro Casiraghi
Monica Cortés Viharo
Meg Drouhard
Max Friedfeld
Vern Harner
Dan Hart
Sam Kastner
Kyle Kubler
Kristin McCowan
Emily Myers
Anzela Niraula
Jacob O’Connor
Nayon Park
Marissa Parker
David Parsons
Cristian Proistosescu
Shua Sanchez
Paige Sechrest
Solmaz Shakerifard
Sam Sumpter
Judy Twedt
Jon Witt