We Are UAW

 

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The UAW has historically been at the forefront of innovation and one of the largest, and most diverse and progressive unions in North America.  In recent decades, more than 35,000 Graduate Student Employees and 7,000 Postdoctoral Researchers have joined the UAW throughout the United States.  UAW’s nationwide presence has enabled us to take on issues on the national stage.

Here we are featuring work that our members do to further UW’s research and teaching missions, and our social justice work in the larger community!

“Two workshops were held: a workshop on workers’ rights and Right-to-Work-for-Less by Kelly Coogan-Gehr, Director of the Washington State Labor Education and Research Center, and a workshop on climate change and the effects of the current administration’s policies by Judy Twedt, a UAW Local 412 member and a representative on the M.L. King County Labor Council’s climate caucus.”

“Judy has displayed remarkable creativity and initiative in leading two sustainability efforts on campus: one that engages with labor unions about climate change issues, and one that turns environmental data into widely-heard, artistic sound pieces.”

“Imagine you’re waiting in your car and a poster for a concert from a local band catches your eye. What if you could just tune your car to a radio station and actually listen to that band’s music? Or perhaps you see the poster on the side of a bus stop. What if it could send your smartphone a link for discounted tickets or give you directions to the venue?”

“If Arash could make it back to the US before that temporary order was lifted, he could continue his studies, instead of seeing four years of of his life and work wasted.”

“We don’t know what it’s going to be like in six months, in eight months,” Guajardo said. “My hope would be attention to these types of tensions, it’s not something that’s highlighted now [after a tragedy], but something that’s covered as it continues. Our hope is that when we [as a university] see hate, injustice, and hostility, we will continue to point it out.”

“People think of Native Americans and they think ‘an Indian is an Indian’, but in the United States there are hundreds of federally recognized tribes and they’re all different,” Baumann said. “And so for everybody to come together like that and work harmoniously, this is huge. This hasn’t happened anytime in history.”

“As Baumann explains, the [Standing Rock Sioux] camp is a living community.  When you decide to go, you are not simply standing in solidarity, you are actively engaging in the movement by working with everyone.  For the elderly, families, and first baby born in the camp, “water is life.”

“We’re trying to reformulate the relationship between archaeologists and Native communities from one of research on native communities to doing research with, by and for native communities,” he said. “Community-based archaeology is a hot thing to talk about, but not everyone is doing it in a way that we think those words mean.”

“Hallenbeck hopes the regional transit agencies will make quick use of the information, perhaps incorporating it in the next schedule change this fall. Knowing where people get on and off the bus, and where they transfer, also might lead to other improvements — such as new bus shelters in popular locations.”

“At a time when the University’s overall budget is strong, and the administration continues to fund other priorities, including the expansion of administrative pay, it’s unacceptable to consider cutting TAs who perform much of the front-line instructional work of the University.”

“It’s about recognition,” Molly FitzMorris said. “I want to stress that I really, really love my job, but I’m not a teaching assistant and I would like to be recognized appropriately and accurately for the work I am doing.”

“Ninety percent of trans people experience some form of discrimination in their workplace,” Askini said. “Not having a bathroom in a building where you can go and feel safe to do what your body requires you to do … that is a form of discrimination.”