April Monthly Membership Meeting
As a reminder, our next membership meeting will be this Thursday 4/14 from 5-6pm via Zoom. To access the link and/or call-in number, please fill out this short form. This month, the Empowering Prevention & Inclusive Communities (EPIC) Team will be hosting a presentation and discussion about EPIC, the upcoming equity survey, and how you can get involved in ongoing work to improve equity and inclusion at UW — including with respect to issues of mentorship and career development, addressing power imbalances, building community, and more. The agenda for the meeting is as follows:
- Approve agenda & minutes
- Organizing updates
- Housing Justice Survey
- Elections Committee
- EPIC Takeover
All members in good standing are encouraged to attend, and anyone who is not yet a member can sign up here beforehand. Everyone is encouraged to login five minutes earlier to help expedite the check-in process. For more information about how the meeting will be structured and how you can use Zoom’s features to participate, check out this page on our website.
Day of Action in Solidarity with Starbucks Workers
Earlier this month, Starbucks workers at Broadway & Denny in Seattle voted unanimously to form a union, making them the 7th Starbucks location to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, and the first on the west coast. This is an incredible show of solidarity from Starbucks workers in Seattle, who have joined with others in a recent wave of unionization drives at Starbucks locations across the country.
However, Starbucks executives continue to engage in union busting — retaliating against organizers, cutting employee hours, and more — and the fight for unionization continues. Saturday, April 23 at 1pm at Cal Anderson Park, join Starbucks Workers, fellow UAW 4121 members, and many others in our broader community for a rally and march in solidarity with ongoing organizing efforts. RSVP here!
EPIC is Hiring – Postdoc Positions Available!
Empowering Prevention and Inclusive Communities (EPIC) is hiring for two Postdoc Training Specialist Positions! Postdoc Training Specialists focus on working with the UW Postdoctoral Scholar community and will build on the EPIC program that was originally developed in 2018-2019. The Training Specialist role is between a 20-40% FTE position. You can apply on UW Hires (UW Requisition #204931).
The EPIC program is an innovative peer-to-peer harassment prevention training program jointly run between our union and the university, and is a major win from recent ASE and Postdoc contract campaigns. Training Specialists will have the opportunity to work with a team to develop, implement, and evaluate the EPIC program, which includes information regarding sexual harassment, discrimination, intersectional power dynamics, bystander intervention strategies, response options, UW policies and procedures, and union rights. If you have questions, reach out to any of the current training specialists at epicprogram@uw.edu.
Postdoc Childcare Fund Enrollment is Now Open
As part of our Postdoc collective bargaining agreement, our Caregiver fund helps support Postdoc caregivers. The Postdoc Family Friendly Working Group has finalized a reimbursement system for the $50,000 Postdoc Childcare Fund. Disbursement of the 2022 fund will happen twice, in May and November. Please visit the UAW 4121 Caregiver fund website for enrollment and eligibility information and the disbursement calendar for 2022.
Please fill out the enrollment form by April 18th, 2022 to be eligible to receive funds in May. Eligibility and amounts given will be need-based and determined after responses are collected. Email the Family Friendly Workgroup if you have any questions, or visit the caregiving fund website for more information.
COVID Resource Round-up
In Solidarity,
Douglas Avella-Castro
Julia Ball
Nicholas Bolten
Amanda Clouser
Kate Conroy
Max Friedfeld
Vern Harner
Colleen Hoffman
Levin Kim
Brianne King
Avi Matarasso
Erin Morgan
Emily Myers
Amal Nanavati
Anzela Niraula
Nayon Park
Marissa Parker
Anastasia Schaadhardt
Solmaz Shakerifard
Sam Sumpter
Samantha Thompson
Braeden Van Deynze
Yuying Xie
Momona Yamagami
Christian Zimmermann