Monday, April 1, 2019
Dear Colleague,
City Council Work Session: “Confronting Discrimination and Harassment Through Collective Bargaining at UW”
Wednesday May 8th, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
University Friends Meeting House (4001 9th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA, 98105)
Seattle City Council Member Teresa Mosqueda is announcing that the Committee on Housing and Workers Rights will convene a work session to learn more about discrimination and harassment at UW, and how our union is proposing to address these problems by achieving a fair collective bargaining agreement. Postdocs who have experienced discrimination and harassment while at UW will give presentations, and experts will speak to why higher education is one of worst industries in terms of prevalence of discrimination/harassment. A member of the University Administration will be there to speak as well as a member of our bargaining committee who will discuss the bargaining process.
Please to attend this event! In addition to highlighting the severity of these problems, it’s also a great opportunity to hold the University accountable if we still have not finished bargaining by that date (nearly a full year after our 90% Yes vote to form a union).
Update on bargaining and the progress of our collective bargaining process:
In the past couple weeks, we have made progress on our collective bargaining agreement. We are working to finish the non-economic proposals soon and then continue with the economic portions.
On Thursday, the UW administration stated their proposal to maintain the status quo on Healthcare, childcare (no current benefits), retirement, transportation (no free transit pass as other unions have bargained) and other important benefits that Postdocs rely on to do their work. We have proposed a complete economic package that address these things .
Additionally, we passed a package proposal including Management Rights, Purpose and Intent, Intellectual Property and Appointments and Reappointments. UW provided counter proposals on Management Rights, Purpose and Intent, and Intellectual Property, and a separate proposal on Reasonable Accommodation. You can read all current proposals and tentative agreements.
We have seven bargaining dates scheduled in the next six weeks. This could be enough to reach a fair agreement, provided that we continue to mobilize and push for swift conclusion to negotiations.
Action Planning Meeting
To discuss other plans for continuing to push for a swift conclusion to contract negotiations, on Wednesday April 3rd, Postdocs are encouraged to attend an action meeting at 5:30 pm in Physics Astronomy Building (PAB) C520 (take the double elevator doors in the middle of the building). We will strategize ideas for pressuring the Administration in the next six weeks. Refreshments will be provided, and a happy hour at the College Inn will follow.
Contact your Elected Officials
The last day of the regular Washington State legislative session is. Before then, elected officials need to hear from Postdocs as we enter the 11th month of bargaining our first contract. In addition to weighing in on the importance of funding higher education and other state services, we must let them know that it’s critical for UW to rapidly conclude contract negotiations to address the financial precarity, workplace harassment, and other issues Postdocs face. Please fill out to determine your county, city, legislative and congressional districts, and our political workgroup will follow up with you about reaching out. Please let us know if you’d like to attend next week’s work group meeting as well. Our elected officials represent all of us, regardless of our citizenship or nationality, and our voices can influence their approach to UW policy.
Participate in the Equity Survey
You’ve heard about this before, of course! Over 550 Postdocs have participated: take the Postdoc equity survey. With comprehensive data from this year, we can create and maintain evidence based policies to protect Postdocs, in contrast to current rules intended to protect UW’s institutional liability.
We appreciate hearing your 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>