Labor Relations

Negotiations Recap for September 11, 2014

This recap details the 10th session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and WFSE for the 2015-17 contract term.

UW Proposals

Grievance Procedure – UW accepted WFSE’s proposal to remove contract language that waives the right to bring a claim to additional legal forums after arbitrating it, and vice versa.

Domestic Violence Leave – UW accepted WFSE’s proposal to memorialize the University’s adherence to the Domestic Violence Leave Act.

HR/Payroll Modernization Bargaining – UW proposed a memorandum of understanding affirming the parties’ commitment to bargain impacts associated with the UW’s implementation of a new HR/payroll system. Such bargaining would begin in October of 2014, with the goal of concluding by December of 2014.

UW Compensation Discussion

Market Survey Statistics

UW presented a visual market survey reference to further illustrate how the University views the market and its compensation philosophy.

WFSE 2013-2015 Compensation

UW presented data on the base wages of WFSE-represented employees during the current 2013-2015 collective bargaining agreement to date, including:

  • A pie chart summarizing changes to base wages during the current contract.
  • A table detailing changes during the current contract for specific job titles.

Having received general wage increases of 2 percent per contract year as well as incremental pay steps, the average base pay increase per WFSE-represented employee was 5.8 percent during the 2013-2015 contract. Of these employees:

  • Roughly 31.6 percent received a 4 percent increase over the biennium.
  • Roughly 61.3 percent received between a 4 and 10 percent increase over the biennium.
  • Roughly 5.8 percent received between a 10 and 20 percent increase over the biennium.
  • Roughly 1.3 percent received an increase of 20 percent of greater over the biennium.

UW Compensation Proposal

General Wage Increase – UW proposed general wage increases of 1.25 percent effective July 1, 2015, and a 1.75 percent effective July 1, 2016.

Minimum Pay Step Adjustment – UW proposed that any regular, non-hourly employee whose salary is less than $12 per hour be placed on a pay step that is at least $12 per hour.

Step Structure – UW’s proposal would allow for the existing step structure to remain as it is currently configured.

Market Wage Adjustments – UW proposed that several job titles receive pay range adjustments up to 80 percent of the market median.

WFSE Responses

General Wage Increase – WFSE countered UW’s proposal on general wage increases only, proposing increases of 8.5 percent effective July 1, 2015, and 5.5 percent effective July 1, 2016.

Next Steps

The next UW-WFSE bargaining session is scheduled for September 15.