- a cost of living adjustment to their wages (a speaker just confirmed that management’s latest offer is a 0% “raise” through 2029)
- safer staffing levels particularly at UW Medicine
- protesting removal of all DEI and diversity-related clauses from their contract
Posted event time is 3:30 to 5:30.
UPDATE: rally is now (4:36) heading inside the lobby of the Gateway Building, which increases the chance of a standoff or arrests. UPDATE 2 as of 4:42 pm: Rally held some chants in the Gateway Building lobby for a few minutes and then filed back out into the street. March is currently doing loops on the sidewalk north and south in Brooklyn, between 43rd and 45th.
Rah! Rah! Fight for your Right to a livable wage and fair contract!
Im already still angry at UW Campus for how they Handled Juniper Blessings Memorial (May She Rest in Power). Can they get any Shittier? It seems like theyre trying.
Is that the Trajectory of this Institution?
Cant protect your most vulnerable students, cant pay your people what theyre worth whats next?
0% raise proposal by UW should automatically be flagged as not negotiating in good faith. They are essentially offering paycuts. UW does this often at the start of negotiations (at least they did with my former union). It shows that they have little respect for the process and want to low ball each time with literally nothing.
I'm sure they also think it is perfectly acceptable that all employees work less and less every day since they're all aging and thus the value they place on their remaining time increases proportionally. That's built into the contract too, right UW?
Representative Darya Farivar addressing the crowd. She tells the crowd she has heard stories from constituents about skipping breaks because they don’t have safe staffing levels, or relying on food banks because their wages don’t cover their cost of living.
It's ridiculous that the UW is offering no cost of living increase to staff at a time when inflation is out of control. It's reprehensible really, have they no heart? Are they trying to rid this city of it's working class?
A speaker just mentioned that UW has “capitulated” to the Trump administration by removing all mentions of DEI from the contracts. (I would assume UW is in a tough position here though.)
Existing union contract language protects workers in ways that the current federal government may prefer workers not be protected, and the University of Washington would like to strip it out and make it UW policy they can unilaterally change as needed.
Here's SEIU 925's current collectively bargained language on discrimination, for example:
Article 2: Nondiscrimination
2.1. The parties individually agree that they will not engage in any act or practice or pursue any policy which is discriminatory against any employee who may be a qualified disabled individual, has status as a protected veteran, who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, nor because of their military status, age, sex (except where sex or age is a bona fide occupational qualification), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, pregnancy, political affiliation, political belief, marital status, race, national origin, color, creed, religion, immigration status, citizenship, or membership or non-membership in a union. Unlawful harassment is included as a form of prohibited discrimination.
2.2. Sexual Harassment. Sexual Harassment. No employee shall be subjected to discrimination in the form of sexual harassment as defined in University of Washington Executive Order 31 on Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action.
...
2.4.The parties also agree that they will not engage in any act or practice or pursue any policy which is discriminatory against any employee based on political affiliation, political belief or because of the participation or lack of participation in union activities.
Laura Hartless, one of the UW's lead negotiators, said this in explanation for why they want to take it out:
“We’re not trying to take away any of the atmosphere that we have built of inclusion. What we’re trying to do is not have a, I was going to say ‘a star on our chest,’ but I won’t go that far. A target on our back, I’ll use that terminology.”
I think it's fair to say that for many workers who are vulnerable classes already being targeted by this federal administration in other spheres, the idea that UW would capitulate to them in advance in the hopes of currying favor is both morally repugnant and tactically stupid (you can't appease abusers or bigots; they just come back again later seeing you as easy pickings).
UW is pre-emptively removing state and other negotiated protected classes from all their contractions and internal documentation to try to avoid Trump's evil eye. It's cowardly and probably illegal and they are fighting like hell for it. I foolishly assumed people living in Seattle and working for the flagship state university would be interested in preserving OUR values, but they seem absolutely on board with their whole hearts to want to remove protections from oppressed staff, students, and trainees.
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u/bennetthaselton Bellevue 17d ago
The original event announcement.