Last week, UW Admin called the police on a group of ASEs who were peacefully protesting in the office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In the morning, we had a peaceful discussion with Deans Harris and Denis by their offices. During that conversation, Dean Harris welcomed us to stay until her office closed at 5pm. We took her up on the offer and had positive interactions with office staff, as well as faculty and community members who came by the office throughout the day.
UW Admin escalated the situation when uniformed UWPD officers appeared on the scene at 4pm. ASEs were alarmed by this escalation—particularly in light of the brutal retaliation against peaceful protestors at college campuses throughout the country over the last few weeks. Nonetheless, our members peacefully and calmly complied with all of the directions issued to us by the police, making sure to keep exits and pathways clear.
While UW has had three years to prepare for this contract and make reasonable offers, UW Admin instead chose to deploy the police on workers simply engaging in protected union activities to peacefully yet powerfully make their voices heard. This was an irresponsible and unnecessary escalation, especially against the backdrop of a national crisis with student protestors being brutally attacked by police across the country.
This is the latest in a pattern of UW Admin’s retaliations and intimidation tactics against student workers simply exercising our right to engage in protected concerted activities throughout the collective bargaining process. Prior to the action at Dean Harris’ office on 5/2, thousands of ASEs have been engaging in mass participatory actions like the 3/29 Cherry Rally to speak out about the critical importance of addressing economic insecurity and immigration shortfalls faced by our members, and the 4/17 actions to urge UW Admin to put forth proposals that ensure UW does not fall further behind their own peer institutions. In response to these actions, UW Admin has been sowing confusion with vague attempts to threaten summer funding, encouraging faculty to replace ASE work, and coercing undergraduate students to surveil and report TAs for participating in union activities in the name of “ensuring academic continuity.” And now, UW Admin has filed a meritless Unfair Labor Practice charge, clearly intended to discourage members from taking action
Enough is enough. Thousands of ASEs have been resolutely saying over the last three years that we need fair wages in our next contract. Over 80% of Academic Student Employees (ASEs) that participated in a 2022 survey reported being rent-burdened. Our 2023 bargaining survey overwhelmingly underscored the reality that UW’s current wages ($2664 per month) are unsustainable. Rather than negotiating and reaching a fair and overdue agreement, management is looking for ways to distract from simply doing the right thing.
Despite these retaliatory intimidation tactics, we are, as always, committed to reaching an agreement and bargaining in good faith. We have scheduled additional bargaining dates throughout this week, and remain united in making our voices heard through our union. We know that the best way to resolve these tensions will be to reach an agreement that both parties can be proud of, and we are looking forward to getting there.