UW Research Coordinators & Consultants win union

They are the latest group of professional researchers to join the academic organizing movement

SEATTLE, WA (April 2, 2025) — 700 Research Coordinators & Consultants at the University of Washington have won their union. They are full-time, professional staff who are critical to UW’s research mission. They will join UAW 4121, the union of Academic Student Employees, Postdoctoral Researchers, and Research Scientist/Engineers at UW. The Washington Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) certified the union on March 27.

“We are thrilled to have won our union for Research Coordinators & Consultants at UW,” said Rachel Erstad, Research Coordinator, Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, in a statement. “For too long, we have been overlooked, and we look forward to having a seat at the table to secure important rights and protections like our Research Scientist/Engineer colleagues have done. Improving our working conditions will allow us to focus on our research and the people we serve.”

UW Researchers and other academic staff rallied in February against the federal administration’s attacks on public research funding. Photo: UAW 4121

Research Coordinators & Consultants are largely a workforce of healthcare professionals whose focus is on research. They are responsible for running clinical trials, liaising with patients and scientists, and ensuring that research results are grounded in rigorous science. 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 work we do is so important at UW and for the community at large—from advancing local and global health and access to education, to serving indigenous and underrepresented groups and veterans, and more,” said Jared Bechtel, Research Coordinator, Dept of Rehab Medicine in a statement. “For many of us, our work is directly under attack right now. Through our union, we will strengthen our ability to resist the reckless efforts to dismantle research funding, DEI, and education.”

“We are thrilled to welcome UW Research Coordinators and Consultants to UAW 4121. Like their UW Research Scientist/Engineer colleagues, they will now have a real voice in determining their working conditions. 4121 members have a long history of securing better working conditions at UW and raising the bar across academia,” said Levin Kim, President of UAW 4121, in the union’s statement.

At UW, Research Coordinators & Consultants often work closely with their Research Scientist/Engineer colleagues and, together, they will create a Research Staff bargaining unit more than 2,100 workers-strong.

“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,” said Mike Miller, Director of UAW Region 6. “Their union siblings welcome Research Coordinators & Consultants to the UAW, and look forward to standing with them as they bargain a strong contract.”