Yesterday, a majority of Research Scientists/Engineers (Assistant-4) from every discipline across all three campuses of the University of Washington filed their representation petition with the Public Employment Relations Commission, seeking to be certified as a new bargaining unit. “Despite the organizing challenges presented by the pandemic, we’ve found ways to have thousands of conversations with our colleagues across the University system about unionizing”, said Ivan Cruz, Research Scientist/Engineer 4 at UW, Seattle. “We heard over and over again from researchers that they are struggling, that they want to make a more diverse and equitable university, and that they would rather ...
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On Friday, May 11, The University of Washington Postdoc vote in support of joining the UAW was certified! Below is a letter from the organizing committee celebrating the victory: Dear Colleague, It’s hard to contain our excitement, and we surely cannot type out the true number of exclamation points we are *feeling* when we say, after incredible participation in our union election, our Postdoc Union is official! (!!!!!) We thought some numbers could help contextualize our success: ✓ A majority of all UW Postdocs and 89% of unchallenged voters voted union YES! ✓ Our union, UW Postdocs United/UAW Local 4121, represents the 1110 Postdoctoral researchers at the ...
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UAW members are represented at the bargaining table by their bargaining committee. The committee is elected pursuant to the local union bylaws, and their size and composition varies depending on the size of the local and the nature of the agreement. The committee’s job is to attend all negotiating meetings, and do the necessary research and fact-finding to ensure that member’s interests are protected. The committee should also be aware of member priorities and concerns and be prepared to update membership when appropriate. Some contracts fall under the umbrella of a “national agreement” which is a master agreement covering multiple ...
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