Labor Relations

UW IHME & SEIU 925 Negotiations Recap for July 13, 2020

Background

This recap details the ninth virtual session for the initial collective bargaining agreement between the UW IHME and SEIU 925. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.

Union Counter Proposals

Holidays – The Union proposed language stating that employees would have the ability to take their paid holiday on another day of the fiscal year during which the holiday occurs, with more specific language stating that employees would have access to holiday leave for Christmas after working at IHME for four months or on or after December 25, whichever comes first. Under this proposal, employees would notify their supervisors when taking holiday leave on a different day than the holiday, but they would not be required to receive permission to work on a holiday.

Tuition Exemption – In response to the Employer, the Union proposed that travel to and from required classes would be considered work related travel. The Union further proposed to add language stating that tuition exempt courses would not need to benefit IHME, and that the Employer would pay all fees and related costs not only for courses required by the Employer, but also for courses recommended by the Employer for an employee’s professional development.

Classification and reclassification – The Union proposed that the Employer would have an obligation to bargain creation, elimination or modification of class specifications that do not involve a major restructure to the overall classification system.

Employer Counter Proposals

Layoff Seniority – In response to the Union, the Employer proposed that the seniority groups that would be part of the consideration when selecting the order of employees being laid off, determining eligibility for placement into vacant positions, and determining order on the rehire list, would be broken down into 0 – 2  years, 2 – 4  years, 5 – 6  years, and over 6 years.

Layoff Employment Options – In response to the Union, the Employer proposed language stating that the Employer would provide both informal and formal options in the event of a layoff. Under this proposal, the Employer would provide informal notice up to 60 days prior to formal notice, during which time impacted employees would be given priority consideration for positions posted on the IHME internal job board for 14 calendar days. The Employer would also notify the Union of impending layoffs at least thirty 30 calendar days in advance of implementation, constituting formal notice, at which time the laid off employees would have the following employment options (in descending order):

  1. A funded vacant position within the same IHME job profile in their current grade
  2. A funded vacant position within the same IHME job profile in a lower grade
  3. Rehire list

Rehire – In response to the Union, the Employer proposed that employees without employment options may be placed on the rehire list for the classification for which the employee was laid off for 12 months.

Grants and Proposals – In response to the Union, the Employer proposed that IHME would maintain its existing internal HUB page, which tracks grants and proposals, with the following details: grant name, nature of the topic, principal investigator, total amount, duration, funder, and grant application status. The Employer also proposed that employees would be notified upon hire of the anticipated funding for the position, namely the source(s) of funding and duration of the funding for the position or title.

Next Steps

The next UW IHME and SEIU 925 bargaining session is scheduled for July 21.