|
Associated Students of the University of Washington |
|
|
In support of UAW Local 4121 WHEREAS UAW Local 4121 represents approximately 4,500 graduate and undergraduate Academic Student Employees (ASEs) at the University of Washington; and WHEREAS ASEs (Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, Tutors, Graders and others performing similar work) are responsible for much of the critical frontline work that makes the University of Washington (UW) an internationally recognized institution of higher education: conducting research that helps bring $1.15 billion in grants and contracts into the University; providing more than half of the instructional contact hours to the 42,000 undergraduates who attend UW; and helping to make UW competitive in attracting first-rate students from all over the world; and WHEREAS collective bargaining rights for ASEs were legislated by the Washington State Legislature in Olympia in 2002; and WHEREAS ASEs on campus make approximately $15,000 per year on average—an amount that is several thousands of dollars below the “Self Sufficiency Standards” for one adult living in King County in 2009, and tens of thousands of dollars below the Self Sufficiency Standards for the many ASEs with children; i and WHEREAS the Local 4121 Bargaining Team is proposing increases to wages to keep up with cost of living—particularly rising costs of tuition and fees; improvements to the health insurance benefits to cover families more affordably and protect ASEs from extraordinary costs; and better student/instructor ratios by restoring cuts that were made to instructional positions in previous years; and WHEREAS the budget for grants and contracts, which fund approximately 60% of ASEs, has been increasing and the UW brought in an additional $57 million last year in grants and contracts, with continuing grants already budgeting wage increases for ASEs; and WHEREAS the cost of wage increases for ASEs that are not paid by grants is .1% of the UW operating budget; and the UW Board of Regents approved a 2.5% wage increase for ASEs last year at a cost of only $664,000; and WHEREAS without increases, the wages paid to an ASE at the average yearly (9 month) rate drops by more than 5% per year due to student fees that must be paid as a condition of employment; and WHEREAS Graduate student TAs are critical to the function of the University of Washington and valued members of the UW community, and WHEREAS in addition to GPSS, the ASUW represents many of the graduate students on campus, and WHEREAS the graduate student union and the UW Administration are in contract negotiations that may lead to a strike, and WHEREAS any strike would be painful for both graduate students and undergraduates, and WHEREAS the timing of the negotiations means that if a strike occurs it would likely happen during finals week, causing widespread problems with students receiving grades for their completed coursework, and
WHEREAS the graduate student union has been negotiating in good faith; therefore BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: THAT the ASUW encourages both parties to consider the impact of a potential strike on undergraduates who might not receive grades, and THAT ASUW supports the efforts of the UAW Local 4121 leadership and bargaining team, and THAT the ASUW strongly urges the negotiating teams to arrive at a timely resolution that will prevent a strike without compromising the welfare of the negotiating parties, and THAT ASUW urges the UW Administration and the University bargaining committee to come to a timely and fair agreement on the new contract; and THAT this resolution be forwarded to UW President Mark Emmert; UW Provost Phyllis Wise; the UW Board of Regents; Louis Pisano, Assistant Vice President of Labor Relations; Mindy Kornberg, Vice President for Human Resources; and David Parsons, UAW Local 4121 President. History of Legislation 05/27/2010: Submitted for consideration |
Legislation ID: Date Submitted: Sponsor: Cosponsor(s):
|