University of Washington Human Resources

RFPU – UW Negotiations Recap for Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Background
This recap details the fifth virtual session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the University of Washington and the Resident and Fellow Physicians Union (RFPU). Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.

During this session, Jessica Cole, presented to attendees on University of Washington’s contractual partnership with childcare providers and how faculty, students, and residents would be able to utilize resources. Jessica also spoke about how critical hire childcare placements are identified and approved at the university. There was also a discussion about how individuals would be able to utilize back up care, priority placement, in-home care, and center tuition discounts.

Tentative Agreements

The parties tentatively agreed to the following:

Article 12 – Time Off – Holidays

• In this article, official University of Washington holidays are listed and that programs will try to schedule these days free from responsibilities and educational requirements, however, clinical needs may necessitate that a resident report for duty on a holiday.
• This article also details the use of Faith/Conscience Unpaid Holidays and Paid Personal Holiday use.

UW Counter Proposals

Article 4 – Disciplinary Action and Just Cause

In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer countered with a proposal that was intended to clarify an Investigation and a Focus of Concern.

• An Investigation would be made clear when it was being conducted or when discipline was being initiated. The Employer would also inform the employee about their right to representation.
• In this proposal, a Focus of Concern would be a letter of recommended actions for a Resident to perform. Upon completion, the Resident could also request that this letter be removed from their program file.

Article 12 – Time Off – Holidays
In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer countered with a proposal that incorporated the Union’s language to obtain program approval for Paid Personal Holidays (rather than the Program Director’s approval) and the Union’s proposed language to include that Programs could not code holidays as vacation and/or sick leave when the Resident was not scheduled to work. This was later moved to tentative agreement.

Next Steps
The next RFPU and UW bargaining session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 23, 2022 and will be held virtually.