UW – SEIU 1199 Negotiations Recap for June 16, 2017
Background
This recap details the 14th session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and SEIU 1199. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.
Tentative Agreements
The parties signed tentative agreements to close the following provisions:
- Article 7 – Hours of Work and Overtime
- Article 17 – Committees
- Side Letter A
- Side Letter B
UW Proposals
Certification Pay – In response to SEIU 1199’s concerns, UW proposed to clarify language stating that the employer does not provide certification pay for certifications that are required to perform a job.
MOU: Charge Nurse JLM – UW maintained its interest in eliminating this MOU as the conditions have been satisfied, and ongoing conversations could take place at future JLMs.
MOU: Pre-Scheduling Overtime Shifts for Permanent Nurses – UW maintained its interest in eliminating this MOU as pre-scheduling overtime is allowable at the appropriate rate of pay without the need for an MOU stating the same.
MOU: Meal Breaks, Rest Breaks, and Missed Break Reporting – In response to SEIU 1199’s proposal, UW agreed to turn this MOU into side letter B and remove language no longer applicable regarding collection of missed meal and rest break information from Kronos for reporting to the union. The union agreed to UW’s proposal, and the parties executed a tentative agreement to close the provision.
MOU: Negotiation Team – In response to SEIU 1199’s concerns, UW maintained its interest in exchanging bargaining dates early and beginning bargaining by February 28, 2019. UW proposed to give the union until January 1, 2018 to choose either (1) to have no more than 16 bargaining team members, and all 16 would get paid by the employer for all negotiation sessions; or (2) the employer would provide paid release time for the first twelve sessions for up to 16 bargaining team members, and the parties may discuss additional pay arrangements after 20 sessions.
The union tentatively agreed to begin bargaining by February 28, 2019 and exchange negotiation dates in advance. The union rejected UW’s proposal to limit the size of their bargaining team and the number of sessions for which the employer would pay release time for 16 team members.
SEIU 1199 Proposals
MOU: JLM Workgroup Pertaining to Inpatient Social Work – SEIU 1199 maintained its interest in continuing regular social work JLMs during the months in which the workgroup is taking place. UW agreed to do so, and the parties executed a tentative agreement to close this MOU.
MOU: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion – In response to UW’s proposal, SEIU 1199 tentatively agreed to designate one member to the committee but maintained their interest in implementing in-person institutional racism training for all staff and managers.
Sub-committees – SEIU 1199 proposed sub-committee meetings during the session to discuss their economic proposals regarding ultrasound technician dictation pay premiums and pay increases for union employees in the social work assistant 2 job class. The parties met to discuss.
Economic Proposals
Each party maintained its previous economic proposals with the following exceptions:
SEIU 1199 Changes
BSN Premium: SEIU 1199 proposed that nurses holding a BSN or higher would receive a $0.50 per hour premium beginning July 1, 2017 and an additional $0.50 per hour on July 1, 2018.
Standby Pay: SEIU 1199 proposed to increase standby pay for all job classes apart from RNs and health care specialists by $0.50 on July 1, 2017 and an additional 1% on July 1, 2018.
Break Relief: SEIU 1199 maintained its proposal to retain break relief nurses on units that currently have them. The union proposed that break relief be expanded to the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit (4West Hospital) on January 1, 2018 and a pilot expansion in one psych and one ICU unit from January 1 – June 30, 2019.
UW Changes
General Wage Increases: UW proposed general wage increases of two percent on January 1, 2018, one percent on July 1, 2018, and another 0.5 percent on January 1, 2019.
Certification Pay: UW proposed to increase certification pay from $1.00 to $1.25.
Next Steps
The next UW-SEIU 1199 bargaining session is scheduled for June 19.