Teamsters 117 – UW Negotiations Recap for Thursday, April 28, 2022
Background
This recap details the fourth virtual session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the University of Washington and Teamsters 117. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.
Tentative Agreements
The parties tentatively agreed to the following:
- Article 2 – Non-Discrimination
- New language aligns the list of protected classes with Executive Order 31 and clarifies that the term “employee” throughout the CBA is intended to be gender neutral and inclusive language.
- Article 9 – Sick Time Off
- The parties agreed to update aspects of the provision to align with current policy and relevant statutes, including those related to sick time off accrual, use, and reinstatement of credits following reinstatement of employment.
- Article 19 – Employee Rights
- Current contract language
- New Article – Work Related Injury Leave
- This new article captures information regarding work related injury leave that was previously located in multiple parts of this agreement.
Teamsters What If Counter Proposals
On the following provisions, the Union reasserted its initial proposal:
- Article 3 – Management Rights and Responsibilities
- Article 6 – Union Business Representatives
- Article 21 – Contracting Out
- Article 25 – Wages
Article 8 – Employee Files
Both parties had initial proposals in this article and the Union proposed to revert to current contract language.
Article 11 – Holidays
In response to the Employer’s proposal, the incorporated much of the Employer’s proposal but rejected the proposed annual June 30 holiday credit cash out.
Article 12 – Leaves General
Parental Leave
In response to the Employer’s proposal, the Union maintained its proposal that FMLA could be a combination of vacation time off, personal holiday, compensatory time, sick time off, holiday credit, and unpaid time off. Also, the Union rejected the Employer’s proposal to have the full employee share of the premium deducted from their wages.
Bereavement Time Off
The Union maintained its proposed increase from three to four days of bereavement time off.
Suspended Operations
In response to the Employer’s proposal, the Union proposed to maintain its proposed Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL) of 80 hours to use for quarantine and/or suspended operations. Also that all hours worked by employees would be compensated at 2 times the hourly rate if department at UW operations are suspended.
Article 16 – Compensatory Time Off
Both parties had initial proposals in this article and the Union proposed to revert to current contract language.
Article 17 – Discipline and Dismissal
The Union rejected the Employer’s proposal to strike that documents could be removed, upon request, from employee files after three years had passed without similar incidents.
Article 20 – Longevity and Premiums
In response to the Employer’s proposal, the Union maintained its previous proposal regarding longevity increases as well as its proposal that the Employer would provide parking for all employees, pay rate for work outside of an employee’s classification, and the educational incentive percentage increase in pay.
Detective Assignment
In response to the Employer’s proposal, the Union counter proposed that officers assigned as a detective would receive 5% premium rather than 4%, and rejected the Employer’s proposal that detectives receiving the premium would also be subject to callout when needed
Bike Officer Patrol
In response to the Employer’s proposal, the Union rejected the idea of a proposal specific to bike officers, and instead maintained its proposal that officers on any kind of patrol would receive a 3% premium for all hours worked (they had originally proposed 5%).
Article 29 – Training
The Union proposed that employees would receive a five-hour block of time every six months for policy/training review. The time will be uninterrupted at the station, with no radio responsibilities and non-uniform if preferred.
UW Counter Proposals
Article 10 – Vacations
The Employer reasserted its initial proposal.
Article 13 – Uniforms, Personal Items
Uniforms/Equipment
The Employer proposed adding additional items to the list of provided equipment to reflect current practice.
Health and Safety
In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer counter-proposed that the health and safety of this bargaining unit’s workplace would be a partnership between Union and Employer. The Employer also proposed that, if appropriate, either party could request a joint Union/Management committee be convened with Environmental Health and Safety to discuss any concerns as well as stating that employees could report safety concerns up the chain of command without fear of retaliation or discipline.
New MOU – Salary Overpayment Recovery
Payroll Errors – Underpayment
In response to the Union’s counter from earlier in the session to include language on underpayment, the Employer proposed that once an instance of underpayment is identified and confirmed, the Employer would correct any errors on the employee’s subsequent available pay period.
What If Proposal
Article 15 – Hours of Work and Overtime
Standard Workday/Regular Work Schedule
In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer proposed to keep unexpected absences as a case that would allow temporary deviations from regular work schedule in addition to emergencies.
Overtime
In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer proposed that Sick Time Off would not count towards time worked for the purposes of calculating overtime whereas other types, like vacation time off or compensatory time, would still count.
Football
In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer proposed reverting to current contract language for football events.
Next Steps
The next Teamsters and UW bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, May 19, 2022 and will be held virtually.