Agreement Approved
By a margin of 98% to 2%, UAW Local 4121 members have voted to approve the agreement with the University over payment of the SFR and Universal U-PASS fees.
As with other membership actions this year, participation in the vote was strong with 1,655 members voting. This continuously high level of engagement across campus enables us to keep strengthening our collective bargaining agreement and continue building a University that supports its workers and keeps the doors to higher education open.
What’s Next?
Reimbursement Checks: SFR and U-PASS
With the agreement approved we expect the University to begin processing reimbursements for eligible ASEs in the coming weeks, probably disbursing them later in the quarter. Please see our website for information about who is eligible for reimbursements and let us know if you have any questions/problems.
Stop Further Fee/Tuition Increases
While this agreement represents another step forward in our multi-year campaign to keep our compensation competitive with other institutions and lessen the burden of unwaived fees, there is still more work to do. The state legislature has continued to allow tuition/fees to be the revenue stream of choice for higher ed, while still doing very little to raise revenue from those individuals and corporations who have already benefitted the most in our economy.
Please keep up the momentum and contact your legislators about fully funding UW to keep other components of tuition (including the unwaived building fee that we still pay out of pocket) from increasing. Tell your legislators to find progressive solutions to the revenue crisis and restore funding to the UW.
Also note that student government (GPSS and ASUW) is holding a lobby day in Olympia to deliver this message directly to legislators on February 15, 2013. Let us know if you can attend!
Thank you again for your continued support, and as always let us know of your questions and ideas.