Membership Meeting on September 16
Our next membership meeting will be on Thursday 9/16 from 5-6pm via Zoom. More details about how you can join the Zoom meeting will follow in next week’s email and will be posted here. The proposed agenda for the meeting is as follows:
- Approve Agenda
- Approve Minutes
- Return to Campus
- Know Your Rights
- Organizing & Action
- Elect 2021-2022 Elections Committee
- 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 5pm on Wednesday, September 15. All members in good standing are encouraged to attend, and anyone who is not yet a member can sign up here beforehand.
UAW Referendum – Update Your Address!
This October, there will be a UAW-wide vote on an important referendum, 1 Member 1 Vote (1M1V). 1M1V would change the way officers of the UAW International Executive Board (IEB) are elected. Under the current system, each Local elects a proportionate number of delegates who then vote for IEB officers, and 1M1V would change this to a system where every UAW member votes directly for IEB officers. The vote will be conducted by mail-in ballot in October and November.
You should have gotten a postcard about the vote earlier this week. If you didn’t receive your postcard, please update your address to ensure you get a ballot when they are mailed out in October. Alternately, if you’ve left UW and are no longer a member, please fill out this short form.
Decriminalize UW Visioning Session
With the UW now facing legal actions against it by all Black rank and file officers for unbearable workplace racism, the Black Student Union, Decriminalize UW, the Black Graduate Student Association and allied groups will host a visioning session outside the doors of the first in-person Regents’ meeting on Wednesday, September 8th at 2:30 pm at the Paul G. Allen Center as well as live-stream (@UWBSU on Instagram). Speakers will include students, faculty, and community members. Click here to RSVP.
We’ll host a poster-making party starting at 1:30 pm PST at the Allen Building — we’ll bring the supplies, you bring your vision of what we could do with $8 million per year to make UW a safer campus for all! In the event that you are unable to attend virtually or in-person, you can still support the effort to make UW campuses and surrounding communities members’ safer. Please also consider signing Decriminalize UW’s petition.
Return to Campus Updates
Members are continuing to meet on an ongoing basis to discuss the University administration’s return to campus guidance and policies for Fall Quarter and make plans to ensure our rights to a healthy and safe workplace are upheld. If you are interested in joining these meetings (Mondays at 4-5pm) or staying connected to this work, please fill out your information here.
On Tuesday, members of the ASE unit met with management to discuss our concerns and Postdocs met today. One of the most common concerns is lack of clear communication about policy changes as both UW and WA State update public health guidance and requirements for Fall Quarter. Below are some of the key policy updates from the last week:
- All current UW employees (ASEs and Postdocs) must fill out their vaccine attestation in Workday no later than September 10th. New hires must complete their form as part of hiring paperwork. If you are not fully vaccinated, you must wait until you are fully vaccinated to fill out the attestation.
- Academic Student Employees and other student employees must fill out both student and employee attestations. Students should fill out their student attestations by September 29th.
- All UW employees, including ASEs, must be fully vaccinated by October 18, 2021 or have filed for a religious or medical exemption. Governor Inslee has removed philosophical exemptions for students and employees in higher education.
- Masks are required in all indoor settings regardless of vaccination status.
- If you have concerns or questions about how any of these policies might affect you, please get in touch with contractenforcement@uaw4121.org.
For more information about updated policies, resources, and your contractual rights — including health and safety, workload, appointment security, and more — check out the COVID Resource Center.
UAW 4121 Renters Toolkit
In the Puget Sound region, there are many different organizations committed to tenant rights, including the Tenants Union of Washington, Be:Seattle, and of course, our union. The presence of strong tenant rights in the Puget Sound region—and the ability to enforce those rights—is due to the fact that we are much more powerful when we work together in solidarity, rather than as individuals. We’re entering a time of unprecedented tenant power—if we can manage to organize and assert our rights.
Our Housing Justice Workgroup has created this Renters Toolkit to help members do just that. It provides resources for finding a place to live, learning your rights as a tenant, what to do when you’re facing eviction or you need other support, and what questions to ask when you’re considering a rental contract.
If you find yourself needing additional resources, or would like to get involved with ongoing organizing on issues of housing justice, contact the Housing Justice Work Group at housing-justice@uaw4121.org.
Free Union Merch!
We have a variety of UAW 4121 merch available for free to our members! To grab stickers or a t-shirt, please fill out this form: tiny.cc/4121merch
