Labor Relations

UW & UAW ASE Negotiations Recap for April 26, 2024

Background

This recap details the twelfth session for the negotiation for the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and UAW ASEs. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.

UW Counter Proposals

 

UW package proposal:

The Employer presented a comprehensive package that covered all of the outstanding articles and MOUs. As part of the package the Employer presented a counter on Article 33- Wages.

 

Article 33- Wages

The Employer’s compensation proposal included the following:

Effective July 1, 2024:

  • The base rate would be increased by 6%.
  • The minimum ASE hourly rate would be increased by 3%

Effective July 1, 2025:

  • The base rate would be increased by 5%.
  • The minimum ASE hourly rate would be increased by 3%

Effective July 1, 2026:

  • The base rate would be increased by 6%.
  • The minimum ASE hourly rate would be increased by 3%

 

UAW ASE Counter Proposals

 

Article 33- Wages

The Union reasserted their compensation proposal from April 23, 2024 which included the following:

Effective July 1, 2024:

  • The base rate would be increased by 47%.
  • The variable rate would be increased by 8%. In the event the adjusted variable rate salary falls below the adjusted base rate salary, ASEs would receive the greater of the increases described above.
  • The minimum ASE hourly rate would be increased to 15% more than the minimum wage in Seattle.

Effective July 1, 2025:

  • The base rate would be increased by 6%.
  • The variable rate would be increased by 5%. In the event the adjusted variable rate salary falls below the adjusted base rate salary, ASEs would receive the greater of the increases described above.
  • The minimum ASE hourly rate would be increased to 5% more than the minimum wage in Seattle.

Effective July 1, 2026:

  • The base rate would be increased by 6%.
  • The variable rate would be increased by 5%. In the event the adjusted variable rate salary falls below the adjusted base rate salary, ASEs would receive the greater of the increases described above.
  • The minimum ASE hourly rate would be increased to 5% more than the minimum wage in Seattle.

 

Appendix I- GAIP

In response to the Employer, the Union is now only proposing increases in vision coverage. The rest of the appendix is being proposed as current contract language.

 

New Article- Immigration

In response to the Employer, the Union made edits to their proposed new article that would focus on international students. The Union is now proposing ASEs who received a commitment of support at the time of admission and have paid a SEVIS, DACA, and/or F-1 or J-1 visa application processing fee, would be reimbursed by the University upon request and proof of payment up to $350 per ASE.

 

The Union proposed to keep the following article current contract language:

Article 35- Workload

 

In response to the Employer, the Union reasserted the following articles:

Article 7- Fee and Tuition Waivers from April 23, 2024.

 

Tentative Agreements

Article 4 – Appointment and Reappointment Notification and Job Description

The deadline the University has to provide a written letter or email offer of appointment for incoming students was changed from April 1st to June 1st. Incoming students would have two weeks to respond to the offer. A statement that ASEs are eligible for University of Washington Voluntary Investment Program (VIP) and the website link to VIP and information about reasonable accommodations which will include the contract article number and contact information for the ASE’s employing department’s Human Resources Consultant will be added to the letter offering an appointment.

 

Article 15- Job Titles and Classifications

The title of the article was changed to “Article 15 – Job Profiles and Classifications” to better align the terminology with Workday, the University’s payroll system. Housekeeping edits were made to better align the article with Workday such as changing “title” to “job profile”, changing “occupation code” to “job code”, and changing “salary” to “compensation”. Additional job profiles were added to align with the new language proposed in Article 25- Summer Non-registered Graduate Research Student Assistants.

 

Article 21- Parking and Transit

MOU- Transportation and U-PASS was struck and moved into this article. New contract language was added that effective summer quarter 2025 and during summer quarters only eligible non-registered ASEs holding job profiles outlined in Article 25 would not be charged a fee for a U-PASS.

 

Article 25 – Summer Non-registered Graduate Research Student Assistants

Currently departments may hire non-registered research student assistants during summer quarter only. Beginning summer 2025 this will expand to non-registered teaching student assistants, staff assistants and predoctoral instructors. A new job profile for each summer only non-registered title will be created. The title of the article was changed to “Article 25 – Summer Non-registered Graduate ASE Appointments”.

 

MOU- Transportation and U-PASS

This MOU was struck and incorporated into Article 21- Parking and Transit.

 

MOU- Empowering Prevention and Inclusive Communities (EPIC)

New contract language was added stating the University and the Union will meet during summer quarter to discuss the goals, including the training plan, of the EPIC program for the upcoming academic year.

 

New MOU- Empowering Prevention and Inclusive Communities (EPIC) Trainers

The parties have agreed to create a new MOU regarding EPIC trainers. This MOU details that two of the four 20% FTE RSE and Postdoc EPIC positions can be repurposed into one additional 50% FTE ASE position when two RSE and/or Postdoc positions are unfilled. There are currently three spots for 50% FTE ASE trainers and four spots for 20% FTE ASE trainers between the combination of RSEs and Postdocs.

 

Next Steps

The next UW & UAW ASE bargaining session is scheduled for April 29, 2024.