Teamsters 117 – UW Negotiations Recap for Thursday, May 19, 2022
Background
This recap details the fifth 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 3 – Management Rights and Responsibilities
The parties agreed to mostly current contract language, clarifying that the Employer shall take action as may necessary to carry out its responsibilities in any emergency situation, in accordance with the applicable RCW. situations.
Article 6 – Union Business Representatives
The parties agreed to current contract language.
Article 7 – Union Business Activities
In this previously tentatively agreed upon article, the parties agreed to add language stating that during approved unpaid time off to work for the Union, an employee would use eight hours of vacation time off, compensatory time off, or personal holiday per month to maintain health insurance benefits.
Article 13 – Uniforms, Personal Items
The parties agreed to a more inclusive list of department issued items otherwise, current contract language was agreed upon with the exception of the section below.
Health and Safety
The parties agreed that the Union and Employer were jointly committed to the goal of implementing an effective health and safety program that meets or exceeds WISHA requirements. Additionally, employees are encouraged to report immediately to the on-duty supervisor any apparent unsafe working condition. Equipment or vehicles that have been reported as being unsafe would need a supervisor approval prior to further utilization. Finally, either part may request that a joint union/management committee could be convened with EH&S to discuss health and safety concerns and explore options to addressing said concerns.
Teamsters What If Proposals
Article 11 – Holidays
Holiday Credit
In response to the Employer’s counter from earlier in the session to cash out all holiday credit annually, the Union proposed that starting July 1, 2024, all holiday credit above 200 hours must be used or cashed out by June 30th of each year, or when the employee leaves UWPD.
Article 15 – Hours of Work and Overtime
The Union reasserted its most recent proposal including a requirement for the Chief to announce minimum staffing levels annually, an increase in the rates of overtime, call back pay and football premium, and limiting temporary schedule changes and mandatory overtime.
Article 16 – Compensatory Time Off
In response to the Employer’s counter from earlier in the session to cap compensatory time at 100 hours, the Union proposed to maintain current contract language for this article as part of a package with their proposals above in Article 11 and Article 15.
Article 12 – Leaves General
In response to the Employer’s counter from earlier in the session, the Union maintained its proposal for the Employer to continue paying the employee share of PFML. The Union modified its proposal to create a new public health emergency leave type of forty hours per year (instead of their proposed eighty) for use during quarantine or suspended operations, and employees would be paid 1.5 times their hourly rate (instead of their proposed double) for employees who work on-site while UW suspends operations or allows others to telework due to a public health emergency.
Article 29 – Training
In response to the Employer’s counter from earlier in the session to designate at least one day annually as a mandatory in-service training day, the Union proposed that employees would be in plain clothes during the training, with no radio responsibilities. Both proposals included language stating that the day would consist of at least five hours of training and the Employer would determine the content.
Next Steps
The next Teamsters and UW bargaining session is scheduled for Wednesday, June 8, 2022 and will be held virtually.