Labor Day // Anti-Discrimination Workgroup // Housing Justice // and more!

Postdocs: Health Care Petition, Childcare, and Bargaining Survey

Make sure you join with our postdoc colleagues and add your name to our petition calling on UW to provide health insurance for all postdocs! It harms all of us when any of us are without healthcare, and UW’s actions disincentivize postdocs from bringing additional funding to the University. Our Family Friendly workgroup is working to support Postdoc parents and caregivers and is developing guidelines to administer the Childcare Fund from Article 5 of our contract. Email us to get involved! Additionally, we are developing our bargaining survey for our upcoming contract negotiations. Please contact us if you want to get involved in developing and implementing the survey.

Labor Day Events and Actions

This coming Monday is Labor Day — join in solidarity with fellow 4121 members and others in the labor movement for some of these important events and actions: 

Fighting for Workers Rights and Racial Justice (online)

• When: Saturday 9/5 from 10am-12pm
• What: Join a number of unions from Washington State and King County for an educational teach-in on the intersections between the fight for workers’ rights and the struggle for racial justice.
• How to join: Register and receive Zoom information by filling out this form.

Rally & March: Seattle Hospitality Workers for Racial Equity (in person)

• When: Sunday 9/6, rally at 4pm, march 5-6pm
• Where: Broadway and Pine

Protecting the U.S. Postal Service and Vote by Mail (online)

• When: Sunday 9/6 at 6pm
• What: Discussion with USPS workers about how the labor movement is fighting back against attacks and misinformation and mobilizing for the HEROES Act, which includes $25 billion in postal funding to deal with the consequences of COVID-19.
• How to join: RSVP here to receive a link to the livestream.

Anti-Discrimination Working Group 

Our Anti-Discrimination Working Group continues meeting weekly to strategize and implement a variety of anti-racist and equity projects, and there are a number of ways for UAW 4121 members to get involved. Some of our ongoing work includes:

• Diversity/Equity/Inclusion (DEI) committees: Currently focused on researching existing DEI committees at UW and best practices for DEI committees; researching best practices for recruitment and retention; developing a toolkit for DEI committees; etc.
• Membership education: Currently developing anti-racist trainings for members to run in their departments.
• Department organizing & mobilization: Focuses on supporting members who want to organize around equity/anti-racism issues in their departments, ensuring members know their rights and protections against discrimination and harassment, coordinating with other campus and community groups, and coordinating the rapid mobilization network.
• Black Caucus: As a reminder to Black ASEs and Postdocs, fellow union members have started a Black Caucus, and would love to have you — please email black-caucus@uaw4121.org for more info and to join.

For more information, or to get involved with any of these projects, please email anti-discrimination@uaw4121.org!

Housing Justice Working Group

International Solidarity Working Group 

• “The Pandemic Could Derail a Generation of Young Scientists” (WIRED): Features UAW 4121 board members, Anzela Niraula and Nayon Park, who explain how COVID has created uncertainty for research, and why having support and a strong union contract is so important.
• “Life Has Been Hell for Incoming International Scholars” (The Stranger): Features a number of international students and postdocs describing the impacts UW admin’s lack of clear policy for incoming international scholars has had.

Support UW Medicine nurses and caregivers