Union leaders have accused the University of Washington (UW) of deploying underhanded tactics amid a labor dispute with research staff and postdocs.
About 2,400 UW workers went on indefinite strike June 7 to protest an impasse in contract negotiations around issues such as pay, child care support and sexual harassment protections.
Research staff have been hammering out their first contract since August 2022, while postdoctoral researchers have been at the bargaining table since November. Both groups say that the university has failed to pledge sufficient investments in their priority areas.
One of the biggest sources of tension between the parties is over the classification of postdocs. The university wants to recategorize some of them as eligible for overtime, opting them out from the state’s $65,000 minimum salary for overtime-exempt employees. The union representing the workers, UAW Local 4121, also wants postdocs’ minimum wage to rise further, to $72,000 in 2024, to match high living costs, something that the university has been unwilling to accept.
Another sticking point is around pooled child care funds. Researchers are asking for $75,000 a year to go to a pot of money the union can then distribute to workers who have child care needs, something that postdocs already secured in previous contracts. UW has flatly denied this proposal.
The two sides are also at loggerheads over the amount of resources dedicated to sexual harassment prevention, with the union demanding more staffing for trainers.
At a June 7 rally outside university administration offices in Red Square, workers called on the administration to live up to its promises.
“Today, we demand the support necessary to maintain the research and success that UW uses and profits from,” said Teresa Swanson, a postdoc who spoke at the rally. “They’re a multibillion dollar operation with salaries over a million for some individual folks. So why do they give themselves huge raises every year and tell us to eat shit? It’s our work, it’s our data, it’s our money that we bring in that they thrive on.”
The strike comes after a similar labor action secured concessions for UW librarians in January. Organizers see the strike as an important point of leverage to put pressure on administrators.
“I want to commend you all in taking the brave step of harnessing the power of solidarity and the power of striking,” said Conor Casey, a UW librarian who spoke at the rally. “It’s your human right to withhold your labor, to bargain over the conditions under which you will sell your labor.”
The action secured solidarity from fellow union leaders and politicians, including Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant and State Rep. Nicole Macri (D-Seattle).
“You deserve to be valued. Your work is what makes this work happen,” Macri said at the rally. “I’m glad to stand with you today because what we know is when we fight, we win. We’re gonna fight for a fair contract, for fair wages, to take care of our families, and to be free from sexual harassment. These are reasonable requests.”
The union also got support from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who canceled his planned June 10 commencement speech at the last minute in solidarity with the strike.
The university criticized UAW 4121’s decision to go on strike, writing in a statement that the action spoiled a spirit of unity across campus.
“The end of Spring Quarter marks a time where we would like to be coming together as a community to celebrate the incredible academic achievements of our students – not divided over contract negotiations,” UW wrote.
Workers hit back at the university, writing that “UW Admin is absolutely feeling the pressure of our collective strength rooted in mass, participatory strike actions that are making visible our power and disrupting UW’s proclivity to maintain ‘business as usual.’”
The union also alleged that the university tried to intimidate international researchers working on visas into not participating in the strike. In guidance to several departments, They claimed that the university had written, “We are required to notify the Department of Labor in the event of a strike by visa holders.”
UAW 4121 wrote that this language is a blatant misrepresentation of labor law, which only requires an employer to notify the federal agency that a strike is happening that includes people on visas, but does not require any reporting of individual workers. Workers denounced the rhetoric, holding a rally June 9 to protest the perceived targeting of international workers.
The two sides scheduled another round of talks June 12 and 13. However, the labor impasse appears to be far from a resolution, with workers determined to continue picketing as long as necessary.
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Guy Oron is the staff reporter for Real Change. He handles coverage of our weekly news stories. Find them on Twitter, @GuyOron.
Read more of the June 14-20, 2023 issue.