UAW 4121

Ballots are out for UAW International Executive Board elections

Ballots are now out for the first-ever direct election of UAW International Executive Board (IEB) positions! Mail in your completed ballot by November 18 to ensure it gets counted. You can find information about the candidates, election rules, and more at the IEB Elections page on our website.

After last fall’s historic vote to establish direct elections for officers of the UAW International Executive Board (IEB), UAW members across the country now have the opportunity to directly vote for the UAW International President, Secretary-Treasurer, Vice Presidents, and Regional Directors. Mail-in ballots began to be distributed to members last week, and all members are strongly encouraged to mail your completed ballot in by November 18 to ensure it arrives in time to be counted. It’s critical that every UAW member votes in this historic election, so don’t wait – get your ballot in asap!

Once you’ve submitted your ballot, you can track it at http://uawvote.com/main.html. If you haven’t received your ballot but are a member in good standing, you can request a replacement at http://uawvote.com/main.html or by calling 855-433-8683. Completed ballots must be received (not postmarked) by November 28.

Endorsements for November 8 General Election

Tuesday, November 8th is a critical election for Washington state legislative and congressional races. If you’re registered to vote in WA, you should have received your ballot by now: please take a minute today to send it in! Through our Political Work Group, UAW 4121 members assembled questionnaires, reviewed candidate responses and their records on our core issues, and conducted several candidate interviews. The result is a strong slate of recommendations that, if elected, will fight for issues most important to us. Find all of our UAW endorsements here!

The deadline to register to vote or update your address (and still receive a mail-in ballot) is October 31st. After that, register in person through November 8th (check out this page for more information). If you are returning your ballot via mail, make sure it gets in BEFORE November 8th, and if ballot drop boxes are your thing, they close promptly at 8pm on Election Day.

Our work to dismantle racism, anti-Blackness, and economic exploitation; to ensure that struggling students and workers receive critical support and protections regardless of citizenship; to pass housing affordability and progressive taxation legislation; to prioritize climate justice; to fight back against right wing attacks that strip our fundamental human rights: will all be heavily influenced by who is making decisions in Olympia and Washington D.C.  Midterm elections are an especially important way to influence the outcome: your vote makes a difference. Feel free to email political@uaw4121.org if you have any questions, would like additional information on any of these candidates, or would like to get involved.

Solidarity with 48,000 UAW Academic Workers at UC

This year, all 48,000 academic workers in the UC system – including Academic Student Employees, Student Researchers, Postdocs, and Academic Researchers of UAW 2865, UAW 5810, and UAW-SRU – are bargaining contracts with the aim of making the University live up to its promise of being an engine of economic and social equity in California. Over the past months, UC admin has committed numerous unfair labor practices impacting each of the respective UAW bargaining units. Because of this, members are now organizing around a strike authorization vote (SAV). The vote opened October 26th and if this vote passes, striking could begin as soon as November 14th, in what would be the largest higher ed strike in US history. In solidarity with UC workers, please donate to the hardship fund if you are able to – get your friends together and donate $41.21!

The issues that UC workers are bargaining for are many of the same issues that impact us here at UW – including fair housing, living wages to keep up with rising inflation, good healthcare, strong anti-bullying protections, transit passes, student fees, and more. UC workers have already made massive wins on anti-bullying protections – which build on protections for respectful workplaces we’ve won in our own contracts – and the wins they secure in this campaign will also create more leverage for us to build on in our negotiations at UW.

Get involved in organizing against UW privatizing student housing!

At last Friday’s Rally for Housing Justice and Tenants’ Rights organized by the Housing Justice Working Group, members came together to build power around housing affordability, accessibility, and security. In particular, members shared concerns about the recent decision from the UW administration to privatize four campus housing complexes: Blakely Village, Laurel Village, Radford Court, and Nordheim Court. Read more about the decision and our organizing in this op-ed in the Stranger written by Housing Justice Working Group members. If you are a current tenant in any of the four complexes (Blakely, Laurel, Radford, Nordheim) – please get in touch at housing-justice@uaw4121.org to be connected with other tenants & for more information.

In the coming months, the Housing Justice Working Group will continue to organize around this issue and more. Email housing-justice@uaw4121.org to get involved, and check out the action items for all members below:

A group of students holding signs about fair housing in UW's Red S alignasdflkjas;dffffquare
In Solidarity,
Justin Applegate
Lucia Baker
Ana Bennett
Rebecca Bluett
Erica Bigelow
Nick Bolten
Francesca Colonnese
Pat Erickson
Max Friedfeld
Colleen Hoffman
Soohyung Hur
Levin Kim
Brianne King
Avi Matarasso
Nicel Mohamed-Hinds
Emily Myers
Amal Nanavati
Anzela Niraula
Marissa Parker
Mara Rafferty
Tahiyat Rahman
Anastasia Schaadhart
Audrey Seo
Jer Steeger
Sam Sumpter
Samantha Thompson
Natalie Wellen
Tricia Wu
Yuying Xie