Northwest Detention Center Solidarity Day
Please join fellow UAW 4121 members for a Solidarity Day with La Resistencia this Saturday, May 21 from 1-3pm at the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center. You can RSVP here, as well as indicate if you need a ride or can help drive others. The Northwest Detention Center has been a site of many egregious human rights violations and immigrant detainees should be set free. Solidarity Days have three main purposes:
- To raise awareness of the issues of immigrant detention by spotlighting the voices of affected community members, and to create a broad base to mobilize for specific calls to action.
- To provide moral support for detainees inside the center and to remind them that they are not alone!
- To increase donations for La Resistencia which are used for detainee commissary funds, paying La Resistencia organizers, and providing bail funds when appropriate.
Even if you can’t make it down to Tacoma, you can still participate! There are several calls to action on the google form, so take a couple minutes to sign the petition or make a donation.
Participate in the 2022 Equity Survey
This year’s Equity Survey launched at the beginning of the month! Thanks to our collective action, this annual survey is used to advance work to address members’ experiences around discrimination, department culture, mentorship, & more across campus. Add your voice today and, once you’ve participated, be sure to fill out your info here to be removed from reminders. The results from prior years’ surveys are available on our website.
Reproductive Justice Actions Recap
Members voted at last week’s Monthly Membership Meeting to approve the following resolution, pledging our union’s support for reproductive rights:
WHEREAS:
- The May 2nd leak of Alito’s majority opinion draft decision on Dobbs v. Jackson confirmed what many have expected: the almost fifty-year legal precedent of Roe v. Wade will likely soon be overturned.
- In the highly likely scenario in which this draft decision becomes final, there will be devastating and wide-reaching public health, economic, and social consequences.
- Anti-abortion laws have always been rooted in white supremacy.
- Reproductive justice is, and should be, an issue for everyone because everyone is impacted when anyone’s basic bodily autonomy is restricted.
- As a labor union, we understand the need for direct, decisive action when our rights are in jeopardy, and that reproductive rights are workers’ rights.
- Following the release of the draft decision, we took immediate steps as a union toward protecting access to reproductive healthcare in our communities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY WE, MEMBERS OF UAW 4121, THAT:
- We commit to taking action to win reproductive justice as fundamentally trans inclusive, anti-racist, and intersectional work.
- We will work to turn fellow members out for direct actions and mass mobilizations.
- The SMWG will continue organizing on an ongoing basis, in coordination with other students, community groups, & unions.
- We will encourage members & other unions to contribute to local reproductive justice organizations.
- We will not be complicit in the criminalization of abortion in the hospitals, schools, or departments in which we work.
- We call on Congress to immediately act to codify abortion rights into law.
- A copy of this resolution be published on our UAW 4121 homepage and included in our next membership email with additional information and resources.
The full resolution can be found here: tinyurl.com/4121rj.
Last weekend, UAW 4121 members joined multiple actions in support of abortion access and reproductive justice. All members are encouraged to get involved in our organizing around this important issue — check out the #reproductive-rights channel on Slack or email solidarity@uaw4121.org for more info and to join the new workgroup.
Abolition May Rally
BSU (Black Student Union) is organizing an Abolition May rally Friday May 20th 11:30AM at the George Washington statue near red square (with a prep and paint event for the rally tonight 6:30-8:30PM at the ECC). The rally is pushing to remove the George Washington statue and UWPD (UW Police Department) from campus. This is also a good opportunity to plug into the Decriminalize UW coalition. You can follow BSU on Instagram (@uwseattlebsu) and Decriminalize UW on Twitter (@DecrimUW).
Volunteer with eSTEAM
eSTEAM is a group of UW PhD students mentoring youth at Echo Glen Children’s Center, a juvenile detention center in Snoqualmie, WA. They tutor students across a variety of subjects, including high school academics and broader life goals. Come to their virtual information session Monday 05/23 4-5PM to learn more about how you can volunteer with eSTEAM. Zoom link for meeting here.
No More Money for SPD
Councilmembers Sara Nelson and Lisa Herbold have legislation (Resolution 32050 and Council Bill 120320) that would give SPD more money in an effort to increase the number of cops on Seattle’s streets. The full council vote is happening Tuesday May 24th at 2PM. Your voice is needed to derail this effort and remind council that true public safety comes from resourcing community, not cops. You can participate by sending an email to council before May 24th, providing virtual public comment on Tuesday May 24th at 2PM, and sharing this document from the Defend the Defund coalition with more information: https://bit.ly/SPD_Salary. The document includes email/public comment scripts and how to sign up for public comment. You can stay in the loop on actions like this through the Seattle Abolition Support newsletter and following Black Action Coalition (@blackactioncoalition on Instagram and @blackactioncoa on Twitter).
Support Subvert UD
Subvert UD is a university district student and community mutual aid group that distributes free food and supplies on Sundays 12-2PM at University Heights by the basketball court. Donate and/or volunteer here. Drivers are especially needed. Social media: @subvert_ud (Instagram, Twitter)
SU SJP Call for Divestment from Imperialism
SU SJP (Seattle University Students for Justice in Palestine) is calling on the Seattle University board and administration, with a specific emphasis on its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) committee, to meet the following demands:
- First, to divest from Israeli occupation, militarism, and imperialism by working with SJP to create a criteria for investments that excludes all companies that profit from the Israeli occupation and weapons manufacturing
- Second, to require ethnic studies courses and materials in the university curriculum that address the question of Palestine, and prioritize hiring qualified, anti-imperialist educators, and
- Third, to uphold its social justice oriented mission and vision statement by being the first university to fully divest from occupation and military profiteering.
If you stand with SJP against Seattle University’s continued complicit behavior regarding Zionism, imperialism, and apartheid, sign this petition: https://tinyurl.com/sudivestment and check out SU SJP’s Instagram: @seattleusjp
Covid Resource Round-Up
In Solidarity,
Justin Applegate
Ana Bennett
Nick Bolten
Jonathan Fisher
Max Friedfeld
Colleen Hoffman
Levin Kim
Nicel Mohamed-hinds
Erin Morgan
Emily Myers
Amal Nanavati
Anzela Niraula
Marissa Parker
Mark Rafferty
Tahiyat Rahman
Anastasia Schaadhart
Audrey Seo
Jer Steeger
Sam Sumpter
Samantha Thompson
Natalie Wellen
Tricia Wu
Yuying Xie
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