Calls to Action
Call to ALL members (including non-citizens!) for five minutes of your time. This year in Washington state, there are four bills that expand the rights of workers that need our support! For each of these bills you can help by following the link and leaving a comment in pro of the bill. The comment can be as simple as “I like this bill!” or if you have a personal story you’re willing to share of how passing the bill would impact you or someone close, these are extremely powerful.
If you have any questions, or are interested in getting involved by organizing those working in government to represent us while in office, please reach out to political@uaw4121.org!
OSEs (Operational Student Employees) right to collective bargaining
Student workers at Western Washington University are organizing union representation for themselves, but can’t bargain a contract until our state reps pass a law giving them that right! Please follow this link and show support for collective bargaining rights.
Fertility Care in PEBB (Public Employees Benefits Board)
Following up from 2021 ASE bargaining when UW said they would only offer fertility care if WA state offered it to other public employees, we are organizing to get equitable fertility healthcare coverage in WA state! Your support is needed to ensure that this year more families get access to the health care they need. Please follow the link and share support for this legislation, and add a pro comment on both HB1151 and SB5204.
Legalize Online Union Authorization Card Signatures
In the age of work from home, it gets more and more unreasonable to require physical signatures on union authorization cards. RSEs recently experienced the difficulties associated with requiring all union authorization cards to be signed by hand, and our recent efforts to help other workers unionize their job titles and workplaces would greatly benefit from the ability to sign online! Leave a comment in pro to make forming new unions accessible to remote work forces and more!
Give Employees on Strike Access to Unemployment Insurance
Employers have incentives to keep us paid poorly, to make it harder for us to go on strike when they won’t negotiate fairly. 44% of our dues go towards a strike fund, but having access to unemployment insurance provides all workers with additional financial stability during a potential strike. Leave a comment in pro for giving workers the means to fight corporate and institutional greed!
Local 4121 Announcements
Strike Assistance Fund Tax Documents
All RSEs and Postdocs that received a Strike Assistance payment through the UAW Strike Portal as part of the Postdoc/RSE strike can access tax information via Portal in the next 1 – 2 weeks (using the login information set up during the strike). If you don’t remember your login info, or need help accessing the Portal, please contact UAW International at: 313-926-5406 or UAWStrikeAssistance@uaw.net. Note: This only applies to payments distributed through the UAW Strike Portal – not any paper checks received from the Hardship Fund.
Research Scientists – Annual Attendance Incentive Program
Every January, RSEs with a Sick Time Off balance of greater than 480 hours can cash out (25% value) a portion of those hours. The ISC Annual Attendance Incentive Program page has the information on eligibility and how to initiate the process.
Postdoc Scholars Pay Increase – Check Your Paycheck
The minimum salary for Postdoctoral Scholars and Postdoc Scholar-Fellows increased by 4.5% to $68,460 on January 1. All Postdoc Scholars should get this increase if you were not already paid above that level. This also means that full-time Postdoc Scholars are still overtime exempt and do not need to track their hours worked. If you are a Postdoc and have not gotten this pay increase (it will show up on your 1/25 paycheck), or if you were recently moved into an overtime-nonexempt (hours-tracking) role, please reach out to contractenforcement@uaw4121.
Join the UAW4121 Slack workspace
Reminder that we have a Slack workspace for all 4121 members! You can join by filling out this form.
Local 4121 Meetings, Events, Trainings
Bargaining 101
Members of the ASE Bargaining Committee will be hosting one hour Bargaining 101 sessions in January! If you’re looking for a place to find out more and ask questions, RSVP to attend the next session on Jan 26th at 3pm!
Organizing 101 Training
Our union is made up of members and it is only through organizing our colleagues that we can build a strong community of colleagues to win and enforce strong contracts. Increasing our organizing power is critical since ASEs are back at the bargaining table in the beginning of 2024.
If you are someone who talks with your colleagues about department or university happenings, then good news, you are already doing the work of organizing! Please join an upcoming Organizing 101 training in January to enhance your skills or learn how to get started.
RSVP HERE to attend a training with colleagues from across the ASE, Postdoc, and RSE units! There are several sessions scheduled for this quarter.
Beyond UW
In higher ed, here are the updates from this week that can be summarized as “STRIKES WORK!”:
- Thousands of California State professors, lecturers, and other academic staff began a five day strike on Monday. After only one day on strike, the union and California State Admin reached a tentative agreement.
- In case you missed it last week, our union siblings at WSU and WSU Admin reached a tentative agreement after only several hours on strike. If this tentative agreement is ratified, it will secure a first contract and a 39% wage increase for WSU student workers.
Fur-One-Two-One Pet of the Week
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