6,000 academic workers hold one-day strike, win
www.workers.org
Seattle United Automobile Workers Local 4121, representing academic workers at the University of Washington, won a breakthrough victory for increased living wages on May 14. They achieved this with a large mobilization of workers and through mutual solidarity with the Free Palestine protest campu

Before the strike, the academic workers held two sit-ins on campus to pressure the administration with their demands. The workers also held a joint action with Resist U.S-Led War, which organized the Palestine Solidarity Encampment at U of W.

The union held a large rally next to the administration building on May 14, strike day. At the rally, a student spoke from the student-occupied encampment led by the United Front for Palestinian Liberation.

Following the rally, many strikers hurried over to the administration building, where negotiations were going on between the union and the school’s top officials. The UAW strikers crowded into the hallways and held a sit-in. By early the next day, the workers had a victory with the new tentative contract.