Labor Relations

Negotiations Recap for August 14, 2014

This recap details the second session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and Teamsters.

UW Proposals

Longevity Premium – UW proposed front-loading the existing longevity pay schedule by providing for an increase at three years of service instead of at 25 years.

Grievance Procedure – UW accepted Teamsters’ proposal to increase steward involvement at step one of the grievance procedure, and grievances to automatically move to step two if a department does not provide a response at step one.

Field Training Officer Premium – UW proposed field training officers (FTOs) receive a 2 percent premium throughout the life of the contract, instead of the current three step increase during hours worked performing FTO responsibilities.

DRIVE Fund – UW accepted Teamsters’ proposed language to allow for employees to voluntarily contribute to Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education (DRIVE) via payroll deduction, provided that management receives a copy of the authorization.

Joint Labor-Management Committee – UW agreed to Teamsters’ proposal for a union staff representative to be the sole decision-maker in determining whether their attendance at joint labor-management meetings is necessary.

Employee Files – UW declined Teamsters’ proposal for suspension records to be removed from an employee’s personnel files after four years, in favor of maintaining the current seven year period. UW explained that retaining such files for only four years would not satisfy University-wide policies and state law.

Sick Leave Use – In response to Teamsters’ proposal to remove the limit on the amount of sick leave an employee may use for emergency child care, UW proposed language that would allow employees to exceed the current limit of three days per calendar year with written pre-approval from the UWPD chief or designee.

Hours of Work and Overtime – UW declined Teamsters’ proposal to prohibit management from mandating temporary deviations from the regular work schedule except in emergencies.

Recharge Event Pay – UW declined Teamsters’ proposal for UWPD officers working recharge or overtime events to be paid at the rate of non-UWPD officers working the same assignment or the amount the UWPD has charged the University for staffing the event, whichever is greater.

Event Staffing – UW declined Teamsters’ proposal to prohibit management from assigning officers to work football events or special assignments outside of their regular shift when there are no volunteers.

Pay for Administrative Assignments – UW accepted Teamsters’ proposed expansion of administrative assignments that qualify for pay, provided that only assignments requiring in-person attendance that are not contiguous with their shift receive a minimum of four hours’ pay. Noncontiguous telephonic assignments would receive at least one hour of pay, with contiguous defined as occurring within 60 minutes of a shift’s beginning or end.

Shift Selection – UW proposed a requirement that officers work a different shift each year, excluding specialty positions, in order to further round out each officer’s experience.

Pre-Scheduled Overtime – UW declined Teamsters’ proposed requirement that any non-emergency pre-scheduled mandatory overtime be contiguous with an officer’s regularly scheduled shift.

Compensatory Time Off – In response to Teamsters’ proposal to increase the compensatory time accrual maximum from 200 hours to 480, UW proposed an increase to 240 hours.

Next Steps

The next UW-Teamsters bargaining session is scheduled for August 21.