Labor Relations

UW – UAW Negotiations Recap for March 15, 2018

Background

This recap details the fifth session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and UAW, set to expire on April 30, 2018. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.

Tentative Agreements

UW presented UAW with tentative agreements to maintain current contract language for articles that were not opened by either party.  The Union indicated that they would review the agreements and respond at the next bargaining session.

Appointment and Reappointment Notification – The parties tentatively agreed to language that indicates an ASE’s appointment or reappointment letter can be written or provided via email.

Job Postings – The parties tentatively agreed to updated language that says open hire ASE positions would be posted on university jobs websites such as UW Hires, Husky Jobs, or GFIS, and if new websites are added the University would notify the Union of the address of any such website within 30 days of contract ratification.

UAW Proposals

Job Titles and Classifications – UAW tentatively agreed to update the occupation codes for all job titles but declined to update the associated job duties as proposed by the Employer. UAW tentatively agreed to remove outdated language detailing classification reviews for certain position titles as that work has been completed.  The Union is continuing to review the Employer’s proposal to strike the Predoctoral Lecturer and Predoctoral Researcher titles, and accepted UW’s proposed update to the standard qualifications for Predoctoral Instructors.

Union Rights – UAW tentatively agreed to incorporate language detailing the four reports containing membership data to be sent to the Union each pay period.  UAW maintained the remainder of their proposals in the article around new Union orientation, release time for bargaining a successor agreement, release time for contract administration, and joint training for those administering the contract.

UW Proposals

Sexual Harassment and Prevention Training – UW proposed an MOU detailing a pilot program for the next contract cycle that would encompass both an online module providing general information on sexual harassment and prevention, and an in-person training component.  The in-person training would be:

  • Focused on sexual harassment and response training for incoming ASEs and would cover skill building, shifting behaviors, and bystander intervention strategies
  • Jointly created by ASEs and SafeCampus, with SafeCampus being responsible for program development and supervision
  • A train-the-trainer model under which ASEs would facilitate the training after an initial period of development and deployment with SafeCampus, with ongoing monitoring by SafeCampus

UW proposed that hourly ASEs would be used for the training, and 2-4 ASEs would be selected from a list of 10-15 applicants provided by the Union.  UW proposed to split the cost of running the program between the Employer and the Union.  The proposed timeline would be to begin program development in the fall of 2018 and present the training to incoming ASEs in the fall of 2019, as needs and resources dictate.  The parties agreed to form a small group to continue fleshing out various elements of the training proposal.

Next Steps

The next UW-UAW bargaining session is scheduled for April 4.  On this date the parties plan to further discuss some of the non-economic proposals on the table.