Our next regular membership meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, March 10 at 5pm in Condon 109. Immediately following the meeting, please stick around for anaction in support of trans equity! This action will highlight the UW administration’s history of deprioritizing, neglecting, and obstructing progress toward addressing the needs of UW’s trans community.
The agenda for the meeting will include:
1) Fight for lower fees
Our recent contract campaigns have increased wages and brought down the cost of unwaived fees for student workers. Base rate TAs and RAs got 10% wage increases last July and will get 8% wage increases again this July. We got the minimum wage in Seattle/Bothell to $13 this year and $15 next year. Mandatory out of pocket fees were scheduled to increase by at least 7% by 2018 but will now decrease by 20%.
But as rent, transportation, and other costs of living in Puget Sound continue to put pressure on our take home pay, UAW members continue to ask: why do we still pay so much in fees?
At tomorrow’s meeting we will focus on this question. This discussion will be participatory and action-oriented, necessitating large membership participation. Please be sure to attend! We will be joined by Nicole Grant, Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, and Katie Wilson, General Secretary of the Transit Riders Union.
2) Fight for Non-Discrimination: Bathroom Equity
Also at this meeting we will be hearing important updates and taking action to support efforts by our trans* equity working group to fight discriminatory legislation. Recently the University denied a grievance in which we asserted that the University was violating its commitment to provide reasonable access to all-gender facilities by not converting any bathrooms to all-gender in Condon Hall. In addition, the working group led a delegation to deliver a letter to UW President Cauce’s office,demanding compliance with Seattle’s City Ordinance requiring all public single stall restrooms to be converted to all-gender. Add these violations to the other issues trans people at the UW have been fighting over, such as the right to have preferred names listed in employment records and the need for clear information about trans health coverage, and a clear pattern of ignoring trans issues on campus emerges.
Come to the meeting to hear this important update and stick around to take action in concert with key allies on campus and in the King County progressive community to demand that the university administration commit to making the university safe for trans people!
3) Other Business
The Elections Committee will report on its work to prepare for the May triennial elections.
There will also be consideration and discussion of a member-request that the union organize and host public forums on the issues of divestment (including the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement discussed at the last membership meeting).
All members in good standing are encouraged to attend, and as always children are welcome and new members may sign up to join the union at the meeting. Membership meetings are a great way to meet other union members and find out how to get more involved.
If you can’t make the meeting but have input or questions about these items or anything else, send an email to uaw4121@uaw4121.org.
If you have graduated or separated from the University and are no longer eligible for membership, please send an email to uaw4121@uaw4121.org