Labor Relations

UW – Coalition Negotiations Recap September 13, 2018

Background

This recap details portions of the fifth coalition session between the UW and SEIU 925, WFSE, and the SEIU 1199NW Research/Hall Health Bargaining Unit.  Economic items will be bargained in coalition, including wages, paid family medical leave, transportation, etc.

Recaps are published online on each Union’s negotiation update page:

 Employer’s Economic Proposals

UW put forth its first economic package proposal in which all provisions would need to be accepted in their entirety, and the Union would withdraw remaining economic proposals.  Provisions included:

Diversity and Inclusion – In response to the Union’s proposal, UW proposed to make available to the Unions the annual assessment report on University-wide diversity metrics that is prepared for the Board of Regent’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee.  The report will be prepared by the University’s Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D).

U-PASS – In response to the Union’s proposal, UW proposed that the parties would work together to engage the City of Seattle as well as King County on specific initiatives in which any cost savings generated would be used to reduce the out-of-pocket costs of the employee U-PASS.

Salary Overpayment – The Employer proposed to move its salary overpayment proposal to an MOU with consistent language across each Union’s contract.

Vacation Leave – UW rejected the Union’s proposal to change the vacation accrual schedule to match the Employer’s professional staff program.

Overtime – UW maintained its proposal to redefine overtime for part-time employees as work in excess of forty hours in one workweek.

UW maintained its proposal to eliminate the current process that allows employees assigned to excepted work period positions that do not normally qualify for overtime pay to request overtime if they have been directed to work an excessive amount of hours for an extend period of time, as approved by the Director of HR Operations.

Wages – UW proposed to increase wages across-the-board by 1% on July 1, 2019 and 1% on July 1, 2020.

Minimum Wage – In response to the Union’s proposal, UW proposed an MOU stating that the Employer would satisfy its duty to bargain prior to making any changes to existing pay in response to the City of Seattle Minimum Wage Ordinance.  The proposed MOU states that the parties agree that the ordinance does not apply to the University of Washington.

WFSE Specific Economic Proposals

WFSE responded to the Employer’s proposed economic package proposal as follows:

Diversity and Inclusion – SEIU 925 and WFSE maintained their proposal for the Employer to commit $200 million to recruiting, retaining, and promoting underrepresented minority staff and faculty across the University.

The Unions proposed that the Employer would establish a timeline by September 2019 for reaching a goal of 100% participation in cultural responsiveness or cultural competency for all University employees.  By that same date, the Unions proposed that employees involved in hiring processes would be trained in implicit bias, equity, and cultural responsiveness.

The Unions proposed to expand the role of the University’s Bias Incident Advisory Committee to track reports of discrimination, harassment, and retribution, as reported to UCIRO, SafeCampus, Title IX, and any other body where incidents may be reported.

U-PASS & Parking – The Coalition maintained its proposal for all employees to receive a fully subsidized U-PASS.  The Coalition maintained its proposal for the Employer to maintain 2018 parking rates, and provide parking at no cost for employees when they are working shifts before 5:30am, evening or night shifts, or when they are called back to work.

Salary Overpayment – In response to UW’s proposal, the Coalition proposed language stating that the Employer would not be able to recoup an overpayment if not detected within ninety days.  The Coalition proposed language stating that the employee may propose a payment schedule to repay the overpayment and nothing prevents the parties from agreeing to a different overpayment amount or method (besides wage deduction).  If there was any dispute concerning the overpayment, the Coalition proposed that the Employer would suspend attempts to collect until the grievance was resolved.

Vacation Leave – SEIU 925 and WFSE withdrew their proposal to change the vacation accrual schedule to match the Employer’s professional staff program.

Wages – The Coalition maintained its proposal to increase wages across-the-board by 8% on July 1, 2019 and 8% on July 1, 2020.

Minimum Wage – SEIU 925 and WFSE maintained its proposal that would require the UW to continue to follow the City of Seattle Minimum Wage Ordinance. Under the proposal, employees’ salaries would be increased to the City of Seattle minimum wage after each yearly inflation adjustment.

Washington Family Medical Leave Program – The Coalition maintained its proposal that the Employer would pay the total premiums associated with the Washington State Family and Medical Leave Program (0.4% of an employee’s pay).

Like Titles – The Coalition modified its proposal to state that should any Union bargain a wage increase (salary adjustments, market adjustments, premium pay rates, etc.) where a like title or job description exists in another bargaining unit, the Employer would apply the increase to all titles uniformly each July and January throughout the contract cycle.

Title-specific Range Increases – WFSE made no changes to any of its title-specific economic proposals presented onAugust 24.

Next Steps

The next UW-WFSE bargaining session is scheduled for September 17 and the next UW-Coalition bargaining session is scheduled for September 18.