November 7, 2023
After a full week of conversation, connection, and discussion, our Strike Authorization Vote has concluded with a total of 1,161 votes cast, with 1,076 (93%) of those voting YES. That means that a strong majority of the nearly 1,800 undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants, graders, tutors, instructors, research assistants, veterinary assistants, and other academic student employees have voted to authorize our Bargaining Committee to call for a strike, if and when the circumstances warrant it. It is clear that ASEs at WSU are united in our frustration and determination to stop WSU’s unlawful and unproductive behavior at the bargaining table.
What’s next?
In the coming weeks, we will continue negotiations at the bargaining table with WSU Administrators, and continue to press for a fair first contract. While we hope that Admin will cease their unlawful bargaining, delays, and dismissive behavior, the strength of this vote will demonstrate to Admin that we are nonetheless prepared to take strong action if WSU continues bad faith tactics.
Strong majority participation is critical to winning a fair contract, and we’ve won this majority action together. Thank you again to everyone who participated and a big shout-out to those of you who took the time to talk to your colleagues and friends, join on the ground canvassing, make phone calls, and send emails. Strong and engaged participation is truly the most critical and powerful way to demonstrate to WSU that we are united in our commitment to winning fair contracts.
You can continue to show up to put pressure on Admin by coming to bargaining sessions (feel free to show up and observe for as long as you’d like, even if you do not want to participate), bargaining committee meetings, and joining in on the discussions in our Slack. You can sign up for any/all of those here!
If you have any questions, check out our Strike FAQ or respond to this email!
In Solidarity,
WSU–CASE Bargaining Committee:
Acacia Patterson, Physics & Astronomy (Pullman)
Adam Bozman, Carson College of Business – Finance (Pullman)
Andre Diehl, Comparative Ethnic Studies (Pullman)
Arianna Gonzales, Psychology (Pullman)
Aurora Brinkman, Psychology (Pullman)
Chelsea Mitchell, School of the Environment (Puyallup Research and Extension Center)
Chia-Hui Chen, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Spokane)
Claudia Skinner, School of Languages, Cultures, and Race (Pullman)
Cody Lauritsen, College of Veterinary Medicine (Pullman)
Dano Holt, School of the Environment (Pullman)
Evan Domsic, Crop and Soil Science (Mount Vernon NWREC)
Gavin Doyle, English (Pullman)
Hannah Cohen, Veterinary Clinical Sciences (Pullman)
Kartik Sreedhar, Physics & Astronomy (Pullman)
Kayla Spawton, Plant Pathology (Mount Vernon NWREC)
Kelsey King, School of Biological Sciences (Vancouver)
Miles Hopkins, School of the Environment (Pullman)
Miranda Zuniga-Kennedy, Clinical Psychology (Pullman)
Naseeha Cardwell, Chemical Engineering & Bioengineering (Pullman/Tri-Cities)
Natalie Yaw, Chemistry (Pullman)
Ninh Khuu, Plant Pathology (Prosser)
Peter Obi, Pharmaceutical Sciences (Spokane)
Raymond Bennett, Psychology (Pullman)
Rebecca Evans, Biology (Vancouver)
Shawn Domgaard, Communication (Pullman)
Tazin Rahman, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (Pullman)
Tholen Justin Blasko, Animal Sciences (Pullman)
Victor Moore, History (Pullman)
Victoria Oyanna, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Spokane)
Whitney Shervey, Sociology (Pullman)
Yiran Guo, Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Pullman)