Contract Corner
The Contract Enforcement Working Group (CEWG) is made up of members who collaborate to enforce the contracts we have won across all three units (ASEs, PostDocs, and RSEs). Participation in this working group is open to all members and training is provided. If you are interested, contact contractenforcement@uaw4121.org.
Through the CEWG, we collectively enforce our contract through information sharing, guidance on email exchanges, meetings with UW administrators, and filing grievances via the processes outlined in our contracts. Several recent issues that have arisen include:
- Taxes – CEWG is currently working with an ASE to win back their wrongly withheld wages under Article 32. Wrongly withholding taxes is an error that Student Fiscal Services (SFS) has made in the past. Please ensure the taxes being withheld from your wages are actually the taxes that you should be paying; pay special attention if you are an international scholar who has some form of an exemption.
- Travel Reimbursement – CEWG has heard from several members who have been experiencing barriers to reimbursement for travel expenses. This topic is addressed in each contract: postdocs – Article 28, RSEs – Article 37, and ASEs -Article 27. For RSEs, please also note that the contract specifies that reimbursement should happen within 30 days of submission of all forms and receipts.
- Compensation – Postdocs, your pay should reflect the new minimums outlined in Article 32. If your pay does not reflect this increase or you are still experiencing delays with the corresponding backpay, please reach out to CEWG.
If you think that something might have happened in your department which would constitute a contract violation, please write into the Contract Enforcement Workgroup! You can do this by emailing the contract enforcement listserv, contractenforcement@uaw4121.org, or by filling out this form. There can be specific timelines for filing grievances so please reach out as early as possible. |
