University of Washington student workers go on strike

Thousands of academic student employees at the University of Washington (UW) went on strike Tuesday after union representatives and university employees were unable to reach an agreement on wages on Monday night.

The union, United Auto Workers Local 4121, has held bargaining sessions with university employees since February, and all but one of the contract provisions — wages — have been resolved.

University officials have proposed salary increases of 12%, 8% and 8% for each year of contact, a university spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The union proposed 12% raises for all three years.

Union members voted almost unanimously last month to authorize a strike, and on Tuesday college students began to walking the picket line, from 6 am, singing and holding signs asking for a “fair contract” and a “decent salary”. They held a demonstration to start the strike at 1pm on Tuesday.

The union represents 6,000 academic student employees, including assistant professors, researchers, tutors and others.

UW spokesman Victor Balta said in a statement that negotiations are ongoing and that the school is “negotiating in good faith.”

“We value our academic student employees and are committed to reaching a fair agreement. We have been working to ensure academic continuity, laying the groundwork to maintain classes and degree completion, and we are hopeful that any disruption to UW students as a result of this strike will be minimal,” he added.

The Hill reached out to union representatives for a statement.

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