Tuesday’s bargaining session was a doozy! We presented 9 articles (3 articles together with Postdocs), including affordability-related issues like compensation. Read on for more!
Check out KeliAnne and Marsalis’ recap of the joint Research Staff – Postdoc Articles!
Check out Gabriel and Evan’s recap of the Research Staff Specific Articles!
We jointly presented with the Postdoc unit on changes to the articles on Non-Discrimination and Harassment, Health and Safety, and Reasonable Accommodations. We aimed to expand these protections in our contracts, while UW Admin did exactly the opposite. It is particularly insulting in a month where we celebrate and acknowledge the immense sacrifices and progress made by the Pride movement and the anti-slavery movement to protect marginalized people. In our non-discrimination and harassment article, we fought to expand the rights and protections to marginalized groups, such as caste discrimination.
…And then UW handed us their proposal striking out protections based on:
- Ethnic origin
- Medical conditions
- Political affiliation
- Union membership status
And added additional language eroding our grievance process and striking various mentions of “diversity” and “equity.”
Taking away your anti-discrimination protections is “not something we’re happy to do, but we believe this is something that the university has to do” – that’s a direct quote from one of UW’s lead negotiators.
UW Admin’s proposal is egregious and cowardly. We demand that UW Admin step up to protect the diverse workforce of researchers alongside us because that’s what makes UW stronger and better! Rather than enshrining these rights in our contract, they want to reference UW policies that they can change at any point. These protections are too critical for us to leave to the whims of UW.
Join your fellow union members on June 25th to tell UW admin that pre-emptive compliance is unacceptable and has no place at UW!
Following our rousing joint bargaining session in the morning, the RS Bargaining Team presented initial proposals for our two compensation-related articles:
- Article 22: Overtime
- Article 42: Compensation
…and presented three new articles and a new side letter:
- Caregiving and Dependent Support
- Immigration and Visa Sponsorship
- New Technology
- Side letter: Immigration Support Program
| Topic | Article Proposals |
| Anti-Discrimination and Harassment (our proposal vs. UW’s proposal) | Expand protected characteristics to include caste, codify access to bathrooms that align with gender identity, and continue systemic measures that allow us to track, address, and prevent harassment and discrimination |
| Health and Safety |
Expand worker protections for safety coverage that includes environmental standards, mental health, stress, and bullying Protect against retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions Measures to better deal with public health emergencies, pandemics, and widespread outbreaks |
| Reasonable Accommodations | Improved, interactive processes that provide co-ownership of the accommodations process between workers and UW |
| Compensation and Overtime |
Salary increases for everyone based on cost-of-living increases Increasing salary mins and maxes to track cost of living standards set by WA state law Retention salary increase for researchers whose growing expertise has not been recognized for over two years No pre-approval for overtime |
| Immigration and Visa Sponsorship and Immigration Support Program |
Groundbreaking protections for international and non-citizen researchers dealing with immigration enforcement, detainment, deportation, and more Establish a legal fund to support workers facing immigration-related crises |
| Caregiving and Dependent Support | Create a $75,000 childcare and dependent care fund, plus a few other meaningful additions |
| New Technology (A.I. Protections) | Ensure evolving tech is adopted without compromising our job security and value as researchers. |
The strongest way to win these meaningful protections is through membership. If you’re not yet a member, you can join below. If you are, ask a few coworkers to join you!
In solidarity,
Your Bargaining Team
Gabriel Beuchat
Iván Cruz
Tess Grover
KeliAnne Hara-Hubbard
Evan Howard
Jessamy Johnson
Lucas O’Bryan
N. Shane Patrick
Gracy Shaw