UW – WFSE Negotiations Recap June 13 & June 26, 2018
Background
This recap details portions of the second and third sessions for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and WFSE, set to expire on June 30, 2019. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.
Union Initial Proposals
WFSE presented initial proposals regarding a series of new and existing provisions, including:
Disability Separation – WFSE proposed that employees who are separated due to a disability would be automatically placed on the rehire list with the right to come back to work if able to perform the essential position duties, while maintaining their seniority and leave accrual.
Double Shifts – WFSE proposed language stating that employees would not be required to work more than sixteen consecutive hours, including rest breaks and lunch periods (a double shift). The proposal stated that employees would not work more than two double shifts in a week, unless it was voluntary and for unusual circumstances. The Union proposed that an employee have a minimum of eight hours off following a double shift and be ineligible for any work assignment during that time. If the eight hour break would cut into an employee’s regularly scheduled shift, they would still be paid for that time while resting.
Schedule Assignment Notification – Currently the Employer must provide two calendar days’ notice for a temporary schedule change and WFSE is proposing to increase that to seven days. The proposed language would require the Employer to pay one additional hour if the change is made within less than seven days, and if an employee came in and was sent home early, the Employer would pay for half of the hours not worked.
WFSE proposed to increase the amount of notice required for a permanent shift change from fourteen days to thirty. In this same section of the agreement, the Union proposed that in the event of a vacancy in a shift schedule, employees would be able to bid on the shift by departmental seniority.
Timeclocks – WFSE proposed that employees would have a grace period of seven minutes before and seven minutes after a shift to clock in or out without being subject to discipline.
Licensure and Certification – Currently employees are responsible for maintaining Employer required licenses or certifications. WFSE proposed that the financial responsibility for maintenance of the licenses and certifications would shift to the Employer.
Leave Due to Child Care Emergencies – Currently an employee unable to report to work due to a child care emergency may use three days of several leave types each per calendar year. WFSE proposed to increase the maximum amount of leave use per type to five days.
Civil/Jury Duty – WFSE proposed that an employee would not be expected to work the night shift before or after they are to report for jury duty.
Bereavement Leave – Currently an employee must be granted up to three days of bereavement leave for each death of a family member. The Union proposed to increase the allowance to five days.
Uniforms and Special Clothing – The Union proposed to nullify any past practices or agreements between the parties prior to July 1, 2019 related to not laundering uniforms.
WFSE proposed that the Employer would reimburse all employees who are required to wear safety shoes up to $350 annually or up to the amount that is current department practice, whichever is higher. Additionally, the Union proposed that the Employer would reimburse all employees required to wear safety glasses up to $200 annually for ANSI-approved prescription safety glasses.
HR Investigations – WFSE proposed new language that would require employees who are the subject of an investigatory interview to be informed of the nature of the allegations before they were asked to respond to questions concerning the allegations.
Trial Service Period – Currently employees who promote or move laterally serve a six-month trial service period and any paid or unpaid leave taken during that time extends the length of the trial service period by the amount of leave taken. WFSE proposed that any time off taken would not extend the trial service period unless it was time in excess of six weeks.
Steward Representational Duties – WFSE proposed that Union stewards would receive paid time off work to conduct independent investigations of issues brought by Union members.
Contracting – Currently the Employer will not contract out work which results in the layoff of bargaining unit employees without following applicable law. The Union proposed that the Employer would not contract out work which results in the layoff of bargaining unit employees under any circumstance.
WFSE proposed that the Employer would no longer be able to contract out work that does not result in a layoff due to a shortage of resources or deadlines. The Union proposed that work that has historically and customarily been contracted out would only continue upon mutual agreement, and the Union proposed to receive at least sixty days’ notice of contracting.
Public Transportation Delays – WFSE proposed to incorporate a side letter from the current contract into the body of the agreement stating that employees who arrive late to work due to unforeseen or unavoidable delays in public transportation would not be subject to corrective action.
Custodial Staff Schedules – WFSE proposed a building services custodial staff pilot that would allow certain classifications in the building services department the option of a schedule with a four day work week, ten hours a day.
Next Steps
The Employer intends to complete presentation of initial proposals at the next scheduled bargaining session on June 28.