More than 700 University of Washington research coordinators and consultants have unionized, joining already organized research scientists and engineers there to create a bargaining unit more than 2,000 members strong, the union announced.
UAW 4121 said in a news release Tuesday that research coordinators and consultants are largely health-care professionals focused on research.
“They are responsible for running clinical trials, liaising with patients and scientists, and ensuring that research results are grounded in rigorous science,” the release said. “Despite the critical role they play at the university, many report job insecurity, a lack of transparency around career advancement and workload, low compensation relative to cost of living, and more as their reasons for forming a union.”
“The University of Washington recognizes and respects the right of employees to organize,” university spokesperson Victor Balta wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed. “UW values the research coordinators and consultants who help make vital work possible and we look forward to negotiating in good faith their inclusion into the existing UAW 4121 bargaining unit of research scientists and research engineers.”
Mike Sellars, executive director of Washington State’s Public Employment Relations Commission, said his agency certified the unionization of the research coordinators and consultants Thursday. Nearly 400 employees submitted cards in favor of unionizing. A union spokesperson said cards were collected over the past year.
Mike Miller, director of UAW Region 6, said in the news release, “As workers and workers rights’ are under assault by the Trump administration, it’s never been more important to have the rights and protections of a union.”