Nominations close November 9th for leadership elections | membership meeting Nov 9th | & more

Nov 8, 2023 | Membership Updates

Local 4121 Announcements

Upcoming 4121 Elections
Our Local, UAW 4121, will hold a university-wide election to fill vacant leadership positions this quarter. Nominations for vacant Steward and Joint Council positions in UAW 4121 opened on Monday, October 30th and will close November 9th. If you are interested in a leadership position, take a look at the current list of vacant positions and access the nomination form here.

Stewards are the main points of contact for members in a given department, and the steward network forms the backbone of our union’s cross-departmental structure and community. For information about what these roles entail, check out the election announcement email you received on Monday, 10/30.

All members in good standing are automatically nominated for open positions in their department. To run for the position, you simply have to accept your automatic nomination. If you have questions, email elections@uaw4121.org

Academic Student Employees – Initial Bargaining Demands Launch on 11/16
Academic Student Employees (ASEs) begin bargaining with the University of Washington in early 2024 for our next collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This means that everything in our current ASE contract will be up for re-negotiation, including wages, fee waivers, health insurance, childcare, anti-discrimination, accessibility support, and immigration support.

Please join next Thursday (Nov 16) at 5pm (in-person, location TBD) for the launch of our 2024 ASE Initial Bargaining Demands. RSVP today! Members from all units are welcome to join. We will review and sign on to our initial bargaining demands, which are based on results from the bargaining survey, discussions among ASE union members, results from the 2021-2023 equity surveys, and grievances that we have filed over the past three years. With this launch, we’ll be sending a powerful message to the UW administration – that we are united and our voices must be accounted for.

Are you an ASE and you haven’t filled out the bargaining survey yet? Take 5 minutes NOW to share priorities for our next contract!

November Monthly Membership Meeting
Our next membership meeting is TOMORROW, Thursday, November 9th at 5pm on Zoom. RSVP here for the November Membership Meeting. The proposed agenda is as follows:

  • Approve Agenda
  • Approve Minutes
  • Working Group updates
  • Organizing updates & action items
    • ASE Bargaining & Membership Drive
    • RSE & PD Membership Drives
  • Adjourn

Any member who would like to propose additional agenda items or submit materials for the meeting is welcome to email uaw4121@uaw4121.org by 9pm on Wednesday, November 8th.
Research Scientists only, Open Enrollment – ATTENTION Current Kaiser Subscribers 
UW Open Enrollment is from November 1 – 30th. This is the once-a-year opportunity to make changes to your health plan or enroll in a Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) or the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP). See the ISC page on Open Enrollment for more information on the options and process. Current Kaiser subscribers should pay close attention to the significant increases in monthly premiums for next year. 

Upcoming Local 4121 Meetings, Events, Trainings

Organizing 101
Our union is made up of members and it is only through member participation that we can build a strong community of colleagues.

Every month over the fall quarter, we will have Organizing 101 trainings, which will cover the basics of effectively connecting with our colleagues to build power for structural changes. This next training will be Monday, 11/13 from noon-1pm on Zoom. There are also dates to sign up for in December.

RSVP HERE to attend a training with colleagues from across the ASE, Postdoc, and RSE units!

Beyond UW

All members in good standing can submit events/actions by emailing comms@uaw4121.org. Suggested content should be consistent with Local 4121’s core principles.

  • From now until November 12th, Seattle community members can vote to choose how to spend $27 million to improve their communities. Proposals on the People’s Budget Seattle ballot, which can be voted on here, have been developed from ideas submitted by community members.
  • Fremont’s Lazy Cow Bakery, home to mutual aid group Casa Del Xolo, is asking Blueprint Capital (who recently bought Lazy Cow’s property) to reimburse them for the money invested into the property and compensate them for their upcoming move. To learn more about how to save Lazy Cow & Casa Del Xolo from demolition, visit #SaveTheCow

And in higher ed sector, there are some big updates from this week:

  • 93% of Academic Student Employees at WSU-CASE voted yes in their strike authorization vote
  • Grad workers at USC are holding a Last Chance Rally on Thursday to give admin one more chance to come to the table with fair contract proposals
  • Michigan State University’s tenure-track faculty have launched a unionization effort
  • Columbia College (Chicago)’s part-time and contingent faculty remain on strike
  • Researchers at NYU call upon President Linda Mills to meet and agree upon good-faith bargaining practices