The union of over 8,000 Academic Student Employees, Postdocs, and Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, Tacoma & Bothell.
#UAW
#UW
#Seattle
Postdocs reached a Tentative Agreement on our next contract tonight! ✊
Tomorrow, we will make a collective decision around the timing for ending our strike. Members, check your email for details as well as information about the ratification vote process!
It’s official, a supermajority of University of Washington Research Scientists and Postdocs voted yes in our Strike Authorization Votes.
Of 959 RSE A-4s who voted, 879 (91.7%) voted YES.
Of 401 Postdoc members who voted, 386 (96.3%) voted YES.
We are deeply appreciative to
@SecCardona
for not crossing our picket line today, in line with policy by the Biden Administration. We’ll continue to make our fights for fair contracts visible until we win contracts which respect our contributions at UW.
Next week, when MLK Labor Council delegates consider whether the Seattle Police Officer Guild (SPOG) should remain affiliated with the Labor Council, our delegates will join with union members throughout the county in voting against SPOG affiliation. (1/2)
Last night, at the largest membership mtg this year, Local 4121 members voted overwhelmingly to push for SPOG disaffiliation. The Mayor’s Office and SPOG should no longer be allowed to evade critical accountability measures that should have been enacted years ago! (2/2)
UW RESEARCHERS FILED FOR THEIR UNION! Congrats to
@uwrunited
! UW Research Scientists/Engineers A-4 are joining academic workers across the country by coming together to form a union to improve their working conditions, and create a stronger UW & stronger science.
#1u
Solidarity with Volkswagen workers today as the results from their historic election are rolling in ✊We're energized to be building a member-driven movement
@UAW
across sectors & states -- workers everywhere standing up to institutional greed to fight for a better world!
BREAKING: This evening, our ASE bargaining team reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the University, and decided to recommend this TA for ratification by membership. The TA includes an agreement to pause striking pending the ratification vote period.
We're proud to give our sole endorsement for City Council Position 9 to Nikkita Oliver
@Nikkita4Nine
! Nikkita's vision for a more just Seattle will elevate the needs of Academic Workers at the University of Washington. 1/2
Tonight at
@MLKLabor
meeting, we voted in solidarity with unions across King County to remove SPOG from our labor council. This is one step in addressing centuries of harm; let's keep up the momentum! ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻
#BlackLivesMatter
SAV results are in – a resounding YES ✊ With 3040 total ASE members voting, 3013 (99.11%) voted to authorize the bargaining team to call for a strike if circumstances justify. Stay tuned for updates on our Bargaining Portal:
📢UW Postdocs & Research Scientists/Engineers A-4 have ratified new contracts! 💪🎉
Postdoc total Yes vote = 99% (386 out of 391).
RSE A-4s total Yes vote = 99% (942 out of 956) voting to ratify our first-ever contract!
This afternoon, more than 💥500💥 members & supporters turned out to the
@UW
Board of Regents meeting & filled the Zoom’s capacity to demand a better contract offer from admin. Members shared powerful comments 🧵👇
The misleading language
@UW
Admin distributed on Wednesday about a “strike by visa holders” is UNACCEPTABLE. Sign on to this letter of support and solidarity with international students and scholars:
If we don't get it, SHUT IT DOWN 📢
@uwrunited
Health Sciences Building has never looked so beautiful 🫡
See you TOMORROW at 12pm at the intersection of 15th & Stevens! One day longer, one day LOUDER!
Hey
@UWArtSci
leadership, we’re here & we'll be staying until you contact
@amcauce
and tell her she needs to negotiate a FAIR CONTRACT with postdocs TODAY.
We have kazoos.
81% YES: ASEs ratified our new contract! The gains are the result of 1000s of ASEs who, over the last 3 years, put countless hours into organizing, strategizing & building campaigns to tackle issues we care about.
Fired up & ready to keep building power!
Big news! "Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has signed a coronavirus emergency order prohibiting evictions of small businesses and nonprofits. The step comes after decisions by Durkan and the City Council to halt most residential evictions."
Over 8,600 of Seattle's workers, small biz signed our petition calling for an immediate
#EvictionMoratorium
- both residential & small business! Today we won both, thanks to the movement! We can organize online despite social distancing & we win!
#COVID19
This AM, striking RSEs & Postdocs circled the entrance to Suzzallo Library, requesting conversations w/
@UW
Board members to discuss our demands & express DISMAY at misleading language Admin distributed Wed. singling out vulnerable members of our community, researchers on visas
A beautiful day to send solidarity to
@TUGSA_6290
& kick off an energizing day of cross-unit organizing on our own campus ✊
From Seattle to Philadelphia, we're connected by our commitments to collective action to build higher ed institutions that truly serve us.
#templeunionmade
Solidarity with Kshama! Given the boldness of the right-wing nationally, at its worst during the insurrection on January 6th, threats of violence must be taken extremely seriously. Check out our statement 👇
UAW 4121 supports the ordinance to ban caste discrimination in Seattle introduced by
@cmkshama
.
Read our solidarity statement:
Join fellow members at City Hall on February 21st for a rally at 12pm and public comment at 2pm!
Sending solidarity from WA to our union siblings
@uaw2865
@UAW5810
@sruuaw
on strike today! They do the instruction & research that makes the UC run, it's time for admin to stop its unlawful practices & agree to fair contracts. Find out how you can help 👉
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE ENERGY BOOST 🚀
This afternoon, nearly 🌟1000🌟 UAW members and community allies gathered on Zoom for our Rally for a Fair Contract.
Packing a virtual space with fellow union members and friends? 4121/100 would recommend 😎
Earlier this week, UW Admin announced that it plans to return to primarily in-person work on Mon 1/10. Given the current status of pandemic, many members have expressed concerns about maintaining healthy & safe working conditions for instruction & research. 🧵
MASS ACTION TODAY at 2pm: come to the picket line at 15th & Stevens Way to stand united against UW Admin’s bullying tactics
Add your name to the letter condemning UW for their attempt to intimidate international scholars
#FairContractsUW
#UWworksBCWeDo
First there were the
@UAW
sit-down strikes of 1930’s, followed by last year’s historic stand-up strikes at the Big 3 automakers that led to record contracts.
And now, it’s our turn to write our chapter of UAW history with Sit-In 4121 to maximize our power as we take on UW.
Want to fight back against SCOTUS? Help make Seattle an Abortion Rights Sanctuary City.
@cmkshama
is proposing to fund abortion care for all Seattle residents &anyone facing abortion-related criminal charges by increasing the Amazon Tax. Sign the petition:
Show your support for unionizing Starbucks workers! Join 4121 members at the solidarity rally & march on Saturday against Starbucks’ union busting tactics and in solidarity with Starbucks workers in Seattle who are unionizing because of low wages & poor working conditions.
Hey
@UW
: Pressure is mounting!!! Read the letter from legislators to Pres. Cauce urging UW Admin to bargain a fair contract NOW with Postdocs and Researchers in order to avert a strike and the disruption it would cause:
TODAY: Urge Seattle City Council to sign onto
@cmkshama
‘s letter to put pressure on Congress & the Biden admin to condemn the brutal attacks on Gaza by the Israeli ruling class and put a stop to the military aid, weapons sales, and diplomatic cover. More info👇
Big news! University of Washington Research Scientists A-4 and Postdocs decided that each of our units will hold Strike Authorization Votes from February 6-16th. Learn more at
Time's up, pay up!
Today, ASEs marched to the College of Arts & Sciences & asked Dean Harris & Peter Denis why they had 3 years to prepare to give us fair wages & are still proposing we continue to lag behind.
UPDATE: Admin agreed to bargain Mon & Tues. The pressure is working!
BREAKING: UC agrees to recognize SRU-UAW in its entirety! This historic victory was brought about by the tireless efforts of thousands of SRs who organized to win a union & a direct response to our massive Strike Authorization Vote. Now let’s win a strong contract for all SRs!
“For most faculty I’ve talked to, this is about doing the right thing,” says Gordon, a physiology professor at UW, where postdocs went on strike last week to demand better wages. “We shouldn’t be balancing our budgets through wage theft from our postdocs.”
After cops kicked us out of the Chemistry chair's office, we're walking the halls of Bagley asking faculty to sign on to the letter of support.
UW faculty, join
@UWChemistry
professors and sign on today:
Hey Dean
@uwengineering
, we know you can hear our singing.
We’re happy to do encore after encore until you contact
@amcauce
& tell her to reach a agreement with postdocs in bargaining today!
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of our recognition strike, when we took to the picket lines for 15 days to demand our union. Join us in celebrating 2 decades of ASE & Postdoc organizing, and in building from this history to continue fighting for a UW where everyone can thrive!
This week, 17 members of the WA House of Representatives sent a letter to President Cauce urging Admin to reach a "fair contract that reflects the prestige of UW among peer institutions as soon as possible" to avoid the disruption a strike would cause.
"Seattle is extremely expensive,” Tang said. “We need meaningful raises to be able to live here and teach here and make this institution the prestigious institution it says it is.”
@seattletimes
The Puget Sound is alive with strike action -- please join these workers on the picket lines and show your solidarity! Check the thread for more info ✊
✅ Kent teachers of Kent Education Association
✅ Queen Anne Homegrown workers &
✅ Redmond Homegrown workers of
@OurUnionIsHG
On this day last year, our RSE & Postdoc units kicked off a historic 9-day strike to win strong contracts.
Over the next 9 days, we'll be spotlighting powerful moments and key wins from the last year - and what we're taking on next ✊
UW faculty are calling on UW to pay us a living wage! Today, a delegation of UW faculty, Postdocs & RSEs delivered a letter to the Office of the President signed by 89 faculty members. Watch Dr. Sharona Gordon's powerful remarks:
#FairContractsUW
#UWPostdocsRSEs
#UWworksBCWeDo
Happy first day of bargaining! Here are the proposals we brought to the table, built on the bargaining survey and the initial bargaining demands over the past few months. A thread🧵
Hey
@uwmedicine
we stopped by to talk but CEO Tim Dellit supposedly was in bargaining (he wasn’t there with us 🤷).
Us Postdocs and Researchers making the work happen in the school of medicine left you this message 📣
Did you know? UW Admin is pushing forward with plans to privatize four student & family housing units. Join TOMORROW to make our voices heard at 4:30pm in Red Square to tell the UW Regents: We demand safe, affordable housing for all of UW and the broader Seattle community 📢
#ASEsStrikeBack
for
- a fair & equitable contract
- accessible childcare
- a living wage
- a safe campus
- trans-affirming healthcare
Join us on 5/15 at
@UW
for
#UWStrike
Congrats to
@uaw4121
@uwrunited
&
@UW
for reaching strong contract that helps postdocs & researchers to build dignified lives as they do essential work. I appreciate the leadership of all parties in reaching resolution on a fair contract!
Check us out on Good Day Seattle, telling
@UW
Admin the clock is ticking! Their proposals are not keeping up with industry standards - we need a fair contract now!
1 month ago UW Postdocs & Research Scientists' began the first ever all-researcher strike. With the power of our solidarity & by withholding our labor, UW had no choice but to agree to our demands to make science & research more inclusive+sustainable at UW
This week, Postdocs ratified our new contract with overwhelming support in a 410-6 vote!
✅ first increase to wage scale since 2019
✅ healthcare stipend for folks not covered
✅ increased childcare funds
✅ expanded peer-led harassment prevention training
And more!
It was an honor to meet
@RepRashida
at the UAW National CAP conference with organizers from
@nihfellowsunite
,
@uaw2865
, & more!
Thank you for your leadership and building power for working people everywhere -- ceasefire now!
Solidarity with UW Librarians & Press Staff who went on strike yesterday. UW admin needs to stop stalling and agree to a fair contract with
@UWLibUnion
!
#UWWorksBecauseWeDo
Almost the entirety of Momona Yamagami’s paycheck goes to covering rent and day care for her 11-month son, said Yamagami, a postdoc in computer science and technology engineering.
“How can such a prestigious institution pay such low wages?” she asked the crowd.
Great coverage from
@TheStranger
of UW Research Scientists' fight to unionize! “We're a part of a growing, national movement, and we're really proud to be a part of that,” Margherio said.
@uwrunited
ACTION ALERT: The Supreme Court has just officially voted to overturn Roe v Wade. Join us for an emergency rally TONIGHT at 5pm at the Federal Building (915 2nd Ave) in Seattle & show that the fight for reproductive justice is not over.
Celebrating 🥳 our ROCKSTAR union siblings at
@wawuunion
& their AMAZING election win from our picket lines today! Give them a WAWUUUUU~ & welcome to our union family! ✊😍
REGENTS RALLY HAPPENING NOW!
Come on over and tell the UW Regents it's their last chance to offer ASEs a contract with market-competitive wages and zero-premium healthcare!
82% of our members are rent-burdened.
@UW
“doesn't have a plan" to address the rising cost of living in Seattle. But we do.
#ASEsStrikeBack
#UWStrike
on 5/15
Hot off of today’s bargaining table 📣 ASE Head Steward Soohyung Hur (Geography) & Ben Anderson (Bioengineering) on wages, fees, nondiscrimination protections & more 🔥