Today (Friday, 9/18) we joined with other unions on campus, along with elected leaders from UW student government, to demand that all workers in all UW locations – both those represented by unions and those not represented – receive no less than $15 an hour starting on January 1, 2016.
UW stated that union-represented workers making less than the minimum wage would receive an increase to $13 in January 2016 and then to $15 in January 2017. However they would not commit to do the same for the approximately 8,000 unrepresented student workers (primarily student assistants). Nor did they make any commitments to deal with the wage compression issues that could result from an increase to the minimum.
The University heard loudly and clearly that UW campus unions would fight against such selective increases, and will continue working in solidarity with student and other non-represented workers in pushing for the minimum wage to be universal. As we stated in our negotiations last spring, the movement for $15/hour has always been about establishing a single standard – with no exceptions and no loopholes – to effectively combat rising income inequality. Today’s coalition continues our push for a campus that treats all workers equitably.
As always please let us know if you’d like to be involved in this exciting effort. We’ll be in touch with future updates.
In Solidarity,
Matt Bellinger
Jennifer Brookes
Lei Cheng
Katie Derthick
Kristen Dew
Bradley Dickerson
Toni Ferro
Kristen Garofali
Alli Germain
Robin Gold
Phil Harding
Bob Hodges
Kristin Lindenmuth
Dylan Mayer
Elizabeth Mills
David Parsons
Elizabeth Scarbrough
Viral Shah
Alexander Stone