A union for academic student employees at the University of Washington has revised its contract to include a clause protecting them from microaggressions.
The contract, which is currently a “tentative agreement” with the school, states:
“[T]he University agreed to a definition of micro-aggressions (“everyday exchanges — including words and actions — that denigrate or exclude individuals based on their membership in a group or class”) and that such workplace behavior is grievable under the contract. Moreover the University agreed to meet three (3) times per year to discuss the joint goal of eliminating micro-aggressions and developing trainings for ASEs, faculty, and departments.”
Of course, what exactly the distinction of being “grievable” will mean in terms of actual disciplinary consequences remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Under this contract, the school is supposed to get involved if one of these student employees suffers one of these “everyday exchanges.”
#related#It makes sense. I mean, what are students supposed to do? Handle situations that hurt their feelings all on their own?
The union, UAW Local 4121, has been negotiating the contract since December of 2014, and the “tentative agreement” was reached on April 30 — hours before the old contract expired and the students would have gone on strike — according to an article in The Stand, which describes itself as a “progressive populist source of information” for the state of Washington.
The updated contract also included provisions involving fee waivers and wages.
— Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online.