On January 29th, the University of Washington changed its temporary layoff policy without union agreement, violating our collective bargaining agreements for Academic Student Employees (ASEs), Postdocs, and Research Scientists & Engineers (RSEs). This policy change allows for income loss, risks to healthcare coverage, and job insecurity—all with as little as seven days’ notice.
Click here to sign the open letter and let UW know we see this change, and will not stand for it!
How this affects us all (breakdown by unit):
| UAW Unit | Our Contract | UW’s Response | What could happen |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASE Contract | – Articles 1 & 2: UW cannot change our contract without first bargaining with us and reaching a written agreement – Article 16: UW must give at least 30 days’ notice before a layoff— emergency layoffs are only allowed if UW follows its own rules for declaring a financial emergency |
❌ Denied all violations – Claims a “temporary layoff”—such as cutting hours or unpaid time off—is not the same as a layoff, so they don’t have to give 30 days’ notice– UW claimed they did not change the contract, just updated an internal policy – Claimed they “notified” us by changing the policy first and only informing us after, then tried to argue that this counted as notice for bargaining – Says no ASEs are affected yet (but policy is ready to use) |
– Only 7 days warning before unpaid time off – If our FTE drops below 50%, we can lose our tuition waivers – If we don’t get paid for 5 out of 6 pay periods, we can lose GAIP health insurance – Since our paid & academic work overlap, we could be expected to keep doing research or writing after losing pay |
| Postdoc Contract | – Article 2: UW must negotiate with our union before changing contract terms – Article 14: UW cannot lay off postdocs without: 1) they’ve worked at least 1 year, 2) 60 days written notice, and 3) declaring a financial emergency – Article 23: Postdocs should have full-time work (~40hrs/week) – Article 32: We must be paid at least $65,508 yearly for full time work |
❌ Denied all violations – Claims a “temporary layoff” (like unpaid time off or hours cut) is not the same as a layoff—so they think Article 14 and the rest do not apply– Say they do not need to declare a financial emergency to make these changes – For Article 23, some postdocs already work part-time, so cutting hours is allowed – For Article 32, the salary rule only applies to full-time jobs—so if hours are cut, pay can be reduced too – Says no postdocs are affected yet ( (but policy is ready to use) |
– Only 7 days warning before unpaid time off – Puts health insurance at risk if postdocs fall below 8 hours/month of paid time – Postdocs may be forced to use up paid leave just to stay insured – Also puts visa status at risk for international postdocs |
| RSE Contract | – Article 2: UW must bargain with us before changing any policies that affect our jobs – Article 15: UW has to give us 30 days notice in writing before changing our FTE (work hours) – Article 18: UW has to formally declare a financial emergency before using that as a reason to cut our work |
✅ Article 15 Win: UW admitted they broke the contract and changed the policy to require 30 days’ notice before cutting hours for RSEs ❌ BUT denied all other violations – Said the policy change was “small” and did not require bargaining – Claimed “temporary layoffs” are different than layoffs— so Article 18 does not apply – Said we didn’t respond fast enough, so they were allowed to move forward – Says no RSE are affected yet—but as of April 2025, that’s no longer true! |
– Only 7 days warning before unpaid time off – If we aren’t paid for at least 8 hours in a month, we can lose our health insurance – UW expanded the policy so they can now cut FTE all the way to 0%—before, they couldn’t go below 50% |
You can read the full responses from UW to our grievances within this Google Drive folder.
What does this mean for all of us?
Across all of our units, UW is trying to claim that “temporary layoffs”—like furloughs or cutting hours—are not the same as the layoffs defined in our contracts. For each of these grievances, they tried to argue that because no one had been affected yet, our complaints were just “speculative.” But that’s no longer true. In mid-April, several RSEs were furloughed for up to 60 days under this new policy.
Even worse, UW is now saying they followed the rules because they “notified” us about the policy change. But here’s what actually happened: 1) UW implemented the policy on January 27; 2) They only told us about it two days later, on January 29.
That’s not bargaining. Our contracts all clearly state that UW has to notify us before changing working conditions, where we come to a mutual agreement via bargaining. But instead of doing that, they made the change first, then called it “notice.” This response on timeliness isn’t just a misunderstanding—it’s a move to shift blame and rewrite the rules after the fact. If UW gets away with this, it sets a dangerous precedent—one where they can treat any delayed response as a green light.
What are we doing about it?
In March 2025, our contract enforcement team (made of academic workers like you!) filed three formal grievances—one for each unit: ASEs, Postdocs, and RSEs. Over 200 ASEs, Postdocs, and RSEs showed up to the first grievance hearings, allowing us to win an initial victory: UW was forced to repeal the 7-day notice rule for RSEs.
But UW is still denying all other violations, so we are forced to escalate. All three grievances are now moving toward arbitration: the final step of the grievance procedure in our contracts, where a neutral third party hears the case and makes a binding decision. While we wait to schedule arbitration, we’re calling on UW to repeal this policy and return to the bargaining table—before any more of us are affected.
How can you take action?
📢 Sign the Open Letter 📢
Join workers, students, and community allies demanding UW stop this layoff policy immediately. Add your name to the open letter here.
🤝 Join the Organizing 🤝
Reach out to our contract enforcement team at contractenforcement@uaw4121.org to help the arbitration process and with other contract violations. Additionally, help build power through the Funding Working Group, which meets Tuesdays at 6PM. Join the #stand_up_fight_back channel on our Slack to plug in!