Solidarity with AAPI Communities
On Tuesday night, a 21-year-old white man murdered eight people at three spas in Atlanta. We know six of their names: Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Julie Park, and Hyeon Jeong Park. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent, and all but one of the victims were women. Such horrifying acts are unfortunately more common than is acknowledged, as anti-Asian xenophobia is deeply rooted in US history and has also been numerously reported during the pandemic. This oppression is multi-faceted, and it does not go unnoticed that class, immigration status, gender, and white supremacy played a part in the events of Tuesday night. We are in solidarity with the Asian and Asian American communities in Atlanta, in Washington state, and across the US.
We take any threats to safety faced by Asian and Asian American UAW 4121 members extremely seriously. Anyone experiencing or witnessing discrimination or safety concerns, please get in touch at uaw4121@uaw4121.org right away for support. Also check out this Guide on Anti-Asian Violence from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.
UW’s Work Abroad Policy
In response to the university’s new work abroad policy for ASEs and department programs contacting ASEs to sign this “work abroad” declaration, members of the international solidarity workgroup organized a grievance and demanded the university cease and desist this requirement immediately. Reach out to the workgroup at intl-workgroup@uaw4121.org (ideally with a non-UW email address) to ask questions and to develop talking points responding to your department about this new policy. The next International Solidarity Workgroup meeting will occur Monday, March 29th at 9am PST.
In addition to organizing a response to the new work abroad policy, members of the International Solidarity Workgroup want to share two additional solidarity actions. First, contact your local representatives using this AFL-CIO form to push forward the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, an initiative aimed towards providing a pathway to citizenship for 2 to 3 million Dreamers, temporary protected status (TPS) holders, and those with Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). Second, please contact intl-workgroup@uaw4121.org or reach out directly to the Purple Group undocupu@uw.edu, a peer support network of undocumented undergrads, if you are interested in speaking on a panel on applying to and attending graduate school as an undocumented student.
Take Action: Essential UW workers deserve Hazard Pay
Building on wins by grocery workers in Seattle, Burien, and King County, our UW union siblings WFSE are organizing to win hazard pay for UW essential workers. Throughout the last year, janitors, maintenance crews, food service, and more have put themselves at risk to keep UW running and deserve fair compensation. Add your name to this petition and tell UW Admin that essential workers deserve hazard pay!
Organizing Trainings
Join fellow UAW 4121 members for a series of organizing trainings this month to help grow our collective organizing capacity, skills, and community. These trainings are open to all members and will be a great opportunity to connect with fellow Academic Student Employees and Postdocs across UW. These two trainings build on each other, but it’s okay if you are only able to attend one.
Fundamentals for Building Power: 1-to-1 Organizing
- When: TODAY! Thurs 3/18, 5-6pm
- How to join: RSVP here!
- Description: Learn about the most important organizing skill for building worker agency and power: one-to-one organizing! Individual conversations and relationships are key building blocks of worker empowerment and effective campaigns, and help us maintain our power and momentum even over long or difficult efforts. We will discuss and practice the most effective ways of talking to our colleagues about joining our union and taking collective action. No prior organizing experience needed!
Power Analysis & Building Power at UW
- When: Thurs 3/25, 5-6pm
- How to join: RSVP here!
- Description: This training will cover how our one-to-one organizing efforts are part of building our union’s collective power at UW, including in the context of our ongoing ASE contract campaign. We will discuss several recent examples from the U.S. labor movement, what we can learn from them, and how we can build power at UW
Equity Survey
Please take a few minutes today to participate in this year’s equity survey to help build momentum on issues of equity here at UW! In 2018, UAW 4121 members organized and won the right in our contract with UW administration to develop and administer an annual survey as a way of gathering long-term information about the specific harassment, discrimination, and inclusion issues ASEs and Postdocs are facing at UW. As with the last two years’ surveys, the results will be used to propel future work to address structural causes of inequity, so it’s critical that every ASE and Postdoc participate to ensure the results will be as compelling and representative as possible.
The more people who participate, the better we’re able to demonstrate to administration that there’s widespread momentum and investment in addressing issues of equity. For more information and to get involved, email epicprogram@uw.edu and/or anti-discrimination@uaw4121.org.
Support Alabama Amazon Workers and Build a Fighting Union Movement!
Join fellow union members this week to show solidarity with Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, AL who are fighting to form a union, and for a rally with labor leader Sara Nelson and Seattle’s socialist councilmember Kshama Sawant!
4121 TikTok
Our Communications Working Group has recently created a UAW 4121 TikTok — follow at
@uaw_4121! You can also follow our union accounts on Twitter (
@uaw4121), Facebook (
@uawlocal4121), and Instagram (
@uaw4121). We hope that these accounts are able to provide union updates in smaller, more digestible chunks. For longer form updates, you can also access the full archive of membership emails
on our website. If you have ideas for social media or communications more broadly, email
comms@uaw4121.org to get involved!
In Solidarity,
