Stop UW Laundry Layoffs!

CALL TO ACTION:

USAS Call-to-action: Ana Mari Cauce, UW President at 206-543-5010 and Paul Ramsey, CEO of UW Medicine at 206-543-7718. Tell the UW to halt its outsourcing attempts and not issue an RFP that would privatize UW Medicine's Consolidated Laundry!

4/9 RALLY LIVE ON FB 4pm

4/9 RALLY LIVE ON FB 2pm

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UPDATE HOTLINE 4/6/18

Fight to save UW Laundry grows as faculty union joins push for second rally this Monday

The UW Faculty Forward Union today (April 6) in an email to University of Washington faculty urged all faculty to attend the second Rally to Save the UW Laundry.

That rally will be 2:30-4:30 p.m., this Monday, April 9, at Drumheller Fountain on the main UW Campus in Seattle.

The first rally took place March 28. Just days later, on Passover and Easter Weekend, the UW issued layoff notices to 15 workers at the Consolidated UW Laundry in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. They are members of WFSE/AFSCME Local 3488. Next month, the UW plans to issue bids for proposals to privatize the Consolidated Laundry.

“The decision may or may not cut costs, as privatization rarely offers the benefits promised while extracting profits only by lowering wages,” the UW Faculty Forward email said.

Today’s action by UW Faculty Forward shows the growing opposition to the laundry closure coming not only from the affected workers and their unions but also students, the community and elected officials.

UW Faculty Forward is joining the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28, SEIU Local 925 and UW Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) as co-sponsors of Monday’s rally.

Show your support at the second rally with University of Washington Laundry Workers, who are fighting to keep their union jobs as UW Medicine threatens to privatize and close their facility.

RSVP ON FB

MON APR 9  | 2:30-4:30 PM  |  UW CAMPUS DRUMHELLER FOUNTAIN

Last Thursday, right before the start of the Easter and Passover holidays, UW Medicine issued layoff notices for 15 workers at the Consolidated Laundry, effective for the end of May. Also in May, UW Medicine plans to issue bids for proposals that could privatize the Consolidated Laundry. Workers have no guarantees that UW's Consolidated Laundry will not be privatized and closed!

Show your support at the second rally with University of Washington Laundry Workers, who are fighting to keep their union jobs as UW Medicine threatens to privatize and close their facility.

RSVP ON FB

MON APR 9  | 2:30-4:30 PM  |  UW CAMPUS DRUMHELLER FOUNTAIN

Know anyone who has ever been treated by UW Medicine? These Laundry Workers clean patient bed linen for UW Medicine's hospitals and clinics, as well as scrubs for health care workers. Many of these employees are immigrants and have loyally worked for the UW for decades. They deserve better!

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Union members of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 925 are rallying to stop UW Medicine from contracting out/privatizing its laundry facility, which employs more than 100 workers who are protected by a union, have a voice on the job, earn a living wage, receive healthcare benefits, and have retirement security.

The UW's unionized Laundry Workers will be rallying with community supporters, including students, to highlight how contracting with private sector vendors undermines Seattle's tradition of respecting high labor standards- by paying workers living wages, offering them employer-provided healthcare, and providing defined-benefit pension plans.

RSVP ON FB

MON APR 9  | 2:30-4:30 PM  |  UW CAMPUS DRUMHELLER FOUNTAIN

Come show your support for the UW's Laundry Workers, and tell the University to stop trying to balance UW Medicine's multi-million dollar hospital and clinics operating losses on the backs of a hard-working and incredibly diverse workforce - the majority of whom are women, people of color, and immigrants.

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