We had a Big Victory. What Happens Next?

Friday, March 23rd, 2018

Dear Colleague,

Postdocs in the News

We got some great coverage in the press from last week’s work-in. Please check out and share these great stories from the Seattle Times, The Stranger and Crosscut. Also, to stay up-to-date, follow our union’s Twitter feed.

As a result of 200 Postdocs and supporters showing solidarity through our work-in, the Administration agreed to drop any further delays and join us in asking the state labor board (PERC) to schedule an election as soon as possible.

What’s next? You may be wondering, now what? When do we get to vote? Here are the next steps in our unionization process, from today until our first contract.

1. PERC establishes dates for vote: PERC should inform us of an election date soon (within a week). We expect the election will take place in April.
2. Representation Vote: The vote will take place over two weeks via the internet and phone. The ballot is simple: we will be asked to choose between having a union represented by UW Postdocs United / United Auto Workers Local 4121, or no representation (that is, no union). The election is decided by a simple majority (50%+1) of Postdocs who vote. Our work-in showed that our power is in numbers: we are more effective when we commit as a group. The same can be said for our vote. The more Postdocs that vote yes, the stronger the mandate our union will have when bargaining our first contract!
3. Certification: If the majority of voting postdocs vote “yes”, PERC will certify UWPU/UAW as the union that represents all UW Postdocs.
4. Bargaining: Based on bargaining surveys and through a series of open meetings, we will make a list of demands for our first contract. These demands will be ratified by all Postdocs through a vote. (If you’ve not yet done so, please fill out the bargaining survey). We will also elect a Bargaining Committee, comprised of Postdocs, to represent us in negotiations with the UW Admin. It is critical for us to have participation from ALL Postdocs at this stage of the process, to ensure solid representation and establish a strong mandate for negotiations. The UW ASEs successfully negotiated their first contract in five weeks, but there is no set timeline for bargaining.
5. Voting on our First Contract: Once a draft agreement on our contract has been reached in bargaining, all Postdocs will vote on whether or not to accept this agreement. If approved, this agreement becomes our contract.

This whole process involves many moving parts and our success will depend on engagement from Postdocs across the UW. If you have any unanswered questions about the process, reply to this email. And you can read more about the process here.

In solidarity,

Your friends and colleagues on the UW Postdocs United/UAW Organizing Committee

Dan Amrhein, Oceanography & Atmospheric Sciences

Pamela Baker, Biological Structure

Leilani Battle, Computer Science & Engineering

Carolyn Brotherton, Microbiology

Mattias Cape, APL

Max Friedfeld, Chemistry

Hannah Horowitz, Atmospheric Sciences & JISAO

Parisa Hosseinzadeh, Biochemistry

Jiae Lee, Biochemistry

Lindsey Madison, Chemistry

Peter Mahoney, Environmental & Forestry Sciences

Daniel McCloy, Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences

Christopher Morrison, Astronomy

Frederick von Netzer, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Maya Rosen, Psychology

Brian Sargent, Sociology

Michelle Tigchelaar, Atmospheric Sciences

Max Turner, Physiology & Biophysics

Brian Weitzner, Biochemistry

Alex White, Psychology

Liang Zhang, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences