Friday, March 22, 2019
Dear Colleague,
Admin Continues to Stall
Since our last update UW administration has not offered any additional availability for bargaining.
There are two important steps you can take to help:
1) Take the Postdoc equity survey. So far, more than 500 Postdocs have taken the survey, but the more Postdocs that participate, the more we can advocate for better protections.
2) Attend a 45-minute meeting with your colleagues to hear a brief presentation about bargaining and get involved in winning a strong contract. Please write to us for information about the next meeting near you.
Contact Your State Legislators
Did you know? The 2019 Washington State legislative session is in progress! Important decisions are being made about funding and other matters affecting the UW over the next fiscal year. The elected officials who represent you are debating these issues right now, and they want to know what is important to their constituents (including progress toward reaching agreement on our first contract). A number of Postdocs have expressed interest in writing to their representatives at the state and city level: please to let us know if you’d like to contact your local legislators.
Questions About Postdoc Appointment Length
Some Postdocs and department administrators have raised questions recently about Postdocs in their 6th year and the we reached in December. This agreement places no limit on the time elapsed since PhD, and includes five years of Postdoc tenure, with the possibility for longer tenure by exception. The agreement is in keeping with national recommendations on Postdoc length and also reflects past practice and . Moreover, nothing in this agreement affects the University’s ability to hire people who do not fit this definition into other titles they have typically used for people beyond their Postdoc period.
If you’re having trouble with these issues in your department, please contact us and we will work with you to make sure administrators understand and are following the correct policy.
Please stay tuned for important updates and as always we appreciate hearing any questions or concerns.
In solidarity,
The UW Postdocs United / UAW 4121 Bargaining Committee
Tina Angerer, Bioengineering
Pamela Baker, Biological Structure
Matthew Crane, Chemistry
Marina Dütsch, Earth and Space Sciences
Max Friedfeld, Chemistry
Hannah Horowitz, Atmospheric Sciences
Megan Ivory, Physics
Ajay Jajodia, Medical Genetics
Andrew Jenkins, Chemistry
Michael Mack, Chemistry
Kelly Patton, Physics
Cristi Proistosescu, Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean
Abdul Basit Shaikh, Pharmaceutics
Thomas Smith, Medical Genetics
Michael Taylor, Bioengineering
Jian Wang, Chemistry
Alex White, Psychology
Huajun Xu, Chemistry