In a separate major action at 12:30pm today, a delegation of UAW4121 members, elected officials, and unions including UAW 4121, SEIU925, WFSE 1488, SEIU 1199, AFT, Faculty Forward, and the Martin Luther King Labor Council delivered a letter to UW President Ana Mari Cauce with signed support for UAW 4121’s contract negotiations and demands from elected state representatives and other local unions. Councilmember Kshama Sawant spoke and urged UAW 4121 members to continue to fight. State representative Nicole Macri, one of the twelve state legislators who signed on to the letter so far, also visited the bargaining room today to communicate her support in person for our negotiation of a fair contract.
The Bargaining Committee has been and continues to be invested in reaching a fair and reasonable contract. UAW 4121’s contract proposals support UW values by ensuring equity protections and economic stability for academic student employees. However, the University Administration’s current contract proposals are untenable for our membership socially, economically, politically, and academically. In addition to not fulfilling its ethical obligations to support students and employees, UW risks dropping competitiveness in recruiting the best and brightest to attend UW and do research.
We have scheduled another bargaining session for Tuesday, May 8, and will continue to provide updates as we have them.