Negotiations Recap for May 21, 2014
This recap details the first session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and WFSE for the 2015-17 contract term.
Ground Rules
The parties agreed upon ground rules for negotiations. UW will pay eight hours of release time for 16 members of WFSE’s bargaining team, as designated on May 20, for the first eight scheduled sessions. WFSE will be responsible for the subsequent eight sessions.
WFSE Initial Proposal
The parties walked through WFSE’s initial contract proposal. Key points included:
Union Activities – WFSE proposed expanding union steward duties to include investigations of grievances, additional time for some activities, and modifying release time language to include travel time in multiple articles.
Contracting Out – WFSE proposed a requirement that UW report to the union monthly regarding future cases of contracting out, while substantially narrowing the allowable business reasons for contracting work.
Corrective Action – WFSE proposed allowing formal counseling to be taken to arbitration. WFSE also proposed reinstituting suspensions without pay into the corrective action process, and expanded requirements for the removal of records.
Holidays – WFSE proposed an extra personal holiday per year, and that employees receive holiday pay according to the length of their shift, instead of the standard eight hours per holiday for full-time employees.
Vacation Time – WFSE proposed expanding the vacation accrual schedule such that accrual rates continue increasing up to an employee’s 16th year of service, as well as allowing for employees to accrue up to 360 hours of vacation time. WFSE also proposed requiring all departments to use a semi- annual bidding process for all employees, regardless of current departmental practices.
Work Related Injury Leave/FMLA – WFSE proposed removing language applying the UW’s policies on family and medical leave, sick leave, and disability accommodations to employees with work-related injuries or illnesses.
Promotion/Transfers – WFSE proposed additional limitations to interviewing non-bargaining unit candidates for job openings.
Regular Temporary Employees – WFSE proposed expanding nearly all provisions of the master contract to apply to regular temporary employees. WFSE also proposed that temporary employees be paid at Step I on the appropriate salary range, and move to Step J upon reaching 350 hours.
Tentative Agreements
Article 48.1: Classification – The parties tentatively agreed to remove outdated language.
Article 57: Term of Agreement – The parties tentatively agreed to update the years to reflect the 2015-17 biennium.
Next Steps
The next UW-WFSE bargaining session is scheduled for June 16.