Friday, January 11, 2019
Dear Colleague,
If you haven’t take our equity survey yet, please take 10 minutes to do so today!
Your input will help us to better understand the issues Postdocs face in their work environment, and to bargain strong protections against discrimination in our first contract.
Bargaining Update
On Wednesday we had our second bargaining session of 2019. After much back and forth in the past months, we reached an agreement on a Health & Safety article and also signed off on Union Rights. We passed a counter on Orientations, insisting that Postdoc-specific orientations are critical. Finally, the UW team passed a proposal on Professional Development. After discussing the need for access to career services that are currently available to graduate students, we passed back a counter that you can , along with all of our other proposals. We welcome your thoughts on any of these topics.
Upcoming Equity Events
Next week in bargaining, we might receive a counter to our Non-Discrimination proposal and others. Put January 17th on your calendar if you want to come support our team that day (in )!
Further, the U.S. Department of Education hasthat would be ain the fight against sexual harassment in higher ed. Among other changes, they have proposed:
- Narrowing the definition of sexual harassment so institutions must take action on only the most extreme cases;
- Allowing schools to adopt higher standards of proof, lowering the likelihood that an accusation could be sustained;
- Allowing people accused of harassment to cross-examine their accuser, which can be hugely re-traumatizing for victims of harassment and assault.
UAW 4121 is coordinating public comments to voice our opposition to these changes. In addition, there are a number of things you can do to take action:
- to the Department of Education.
- hosted by the UW Title IX Office next week. The comments and attendance at these fora will strongly inform UW’s response, so it’s critical that people turn out and show this is a high priority for our community.
- In addition to attending a forum,.
Get Involved
Our working groups are continuing to meet to develop contract language and plan actions. These groups are a great way to get involved, and no prior experience is necessary! Check out ourfor an up-to-date calendar of meetings, and reach out to current work group members to find out more:
- Anti-Discrimination & Harassment: pdantidiscrimination@uaw4121.org
- Communications: pdcommunications@uaw4121.org
- Healthcare: pdhealthcare@uaw4121.org
- International Postdocs: pdinternational@uaw4121.org
- Parenting Postdocs: pdparenting@uaw4121.org
- Requests for Information: pdrfi@uaw4121.org
- Wages & Compensation: pdwagescompensation@uaw4121.org
As always, this is your union, so don’t hesitate to get in touch via,or our inbox! Or find us at our next membership meeting on Thursday, January 31.
In solidarity,
Your UWPU / UAW 4121 Bargaining Committee
Tina Angerer, Bioengineering
Pamela Baker, Biological Structure
Matt Crane, Chemistry
Marina Dütsch, Earth and Space Sciences
Max Friedfeld, Chemistry
Hannah Horowitz, Atmospheric Sciences
Ajay Jajodia, Medical Genetics
Christopher Morrison, Astronomy
Kelly Patton, Physics
Hossein Sartipizadeh, Aeronautics & Astronautics
Abdul Basit Shaikh, Pharmaceutics
Thomas Smith, Medical Genetics
Michael Taylor, Bioengineering
Michelle Tigchelaar, Atmospheric Sciences
Jian Wang, Chemistry
Alex White, Psychology
Huajun Xu, Chemistry