Last updated: August 27, 2026
This recap details the second mediation session, eighteenth overall session, for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the University of Washington and UAW Research.
Tentative Agreements
The parties tentatively agreed to the following:
Article 11: Health and Safety
The parties agreed to language that details how employees can anonymously report unsafe work conditions, including building issues and air quality concerns, to the University’s Environmental Health and Safety department and language that will prevent employees from being disciplined or retaliated against for reporting such conditions. The parties also agreed to language detailing how employees can request ergonomic evaluations due to diagnosed medical conditions through the Disability Services Office.
Article 23: Performance Evaluations
The parties agreed to remove language about performance improvement plans from this Article and move it into Article 6: Corrective Action and Dismissal. The parties also agreed to include a new provision in performance evaluations for identifying professional development goals, such as training and professional development plans.
Article 29: Reasonable Accommodations of Employees with Disabilities
The parties agreed to new language that will require the University to send annual communications to all managers regarding their role in the accommodation process and that once per year upon request, the Union and the University will meet to discuss training and guidance materials provided to supervisors. With respect to disability leave, the parties agreed that disability leave may be a form of reasonable accommodation and that if disability leave is taken as an unpaid absence, employees may apply eight (8) hours of accrued time paid time off per month for the duration of approved leave. Additionally, the parties agreed to new language consistent with APS 46.7 detailing accommodations related to lactation that would not require health care provider certification and not be subject to claims of undue hardship, including providing reasonable break time for employees to express breast milk, providing lactation spaces, and accommodations during work hours where the regular location of the employee’s workplace makes nursing during work hours a possibility due to the child being in close proximity.
Article 37: Travel
The parties agreed to new language that will require the University to make reasonable efforts to provide direct departmental payment of allowable expenses for approved business-related travel when consistent with UW Travel Policy and/or departmental policy. The parties also agreed to other housekeeping edits in this Article.
Article 43: Workspace and Materials
The parties agreed to new language that will allow supervisors to prospectively authorize purchasing for designated employees when allowable by funding source(s) and by university procurement services and departmental purchasing policies, and that the University would make a good faith effort to process reimbursements within 30 days of submission of reimbursement information.
MOU: Empowering Prevention and Inclusive Communities (EPIC)
The parties agreed to continue to make EPIC training available to Academic Student Employees, Postdoctoral Scholars, and Research Staff. The parties also agreed to allow unfilled Postdoctoral Schola and Research Staff assignments to be combined and offered as one (1) Research Staff appointment at either 0.3 FTE, 0.4 FTE, or 0.5 FTE as determined by the Employer. Additionally, the parties agreed to new language that will require the total FTE between the UAW Postdoctoral Scholar and UAW Research contracts not exceed 0.8 FTE. The parties also agreed to allow one 0.5 FTE ASE position be used to fill two (2) of the four (4) 0.2 FTE Postdoctoral Scholar and Research Staff training positions when the Postdoc and Research Staff positions are unfilled. If an ASE position is offered in lieu of two (2) Postdoc and Research Staff EPIC training positions, the parties agreed to consider those two (2) training positions filled for the duration of the ASE’s appointment.
The parties agreed to maintain current contract language in the following Article(s):
- Article 16: Inclement Weather and Suspended Operations
Employer Counter Proposals
Article 4: Classification and Reclassification
The Employer reasserted its prior counter proposal for this Article as presented during the August 11 bargaining session.
Article 15: Hours of Work
The Employer counter proposed that employees would be provided at least five (5) calendar days’ notice, when possible, of a change to their schedule.
Article 29: Reasonable Accommodation of Employees with Disabilities
The Employer accepted the Union’s proposal to include a link to the interactive disability accommodation process on the UWHR website, and counter proposed an additional housekeeping edit.
Article 35: Time Off and Leave
The Employer proposed to separate the Federal Family Medical Leave Act definition of “family member” from the definition that would apply to the provisions of this Article; proposing that the current definition as described in the sick time off section apply to all elements of the article aside from the FMLA section and the current general family member definition would now only apply to the FMLA section. The Employer also proposed language updates that would require employer-provided healthcare benefits to be maintained during any period of Paid Family Medical Leave in which the employee is also entitled to job protection.
Union Counter Proposals
Article 4: Classification and Reclassification
The Union accepted the Employer’s prior proposed language that would require position review requests submitted at the departmental level to be forwarded to UWHR Compensation within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt but did not include the Employer’s proposal that it would take place “whenever possible.” The Union also proposed additional language that would require employees to receive written notice of their paperwork being completed.
Article 6: Corrective Action and Dismissal
The Union accepted the Employer’s proposal to move language around performance improvement plans into this Article and proposed additional language that would require the plan to concisely state the issue with recent examples and impacts, and to include actions to be taken by the employee to address said issues.
Article 18: Layoff, Seniority, and Rehire
The Union reasserted its proposal to require the Employer to provide notice for a position elimination and proposed additional language that would require it to include the specific funding source(s) that have been eliminated and how many remaining job duties have been reorganized, in addition to everything else the Union initially proposed in this section. The Union also reasserted elements of its initial proposal elsewhere in this Article, including extending the amount of time that a laid-off employee is placed on the rehire list from twelve (12) to eighteen (18) months. With respect to FTE reductions, the Union proposed that Employees in positions being reduced to 0.5 FTE or below would have the choice of staying in the reduced positions or being placed on the rehire list. The Union also proposed new language that would define temporary layoffs as either temporary FTE reductions or furloughs and proposed that employees could elect to use paid time off during a furlough.
MOU: Rehire List Process
The Union accepted the Employer’s proposal to create this new MOU but counter proposed that the parties would meet in a Joint Union Management Committee meeting within 60 days following ratification, instead of 120 days. The Union also proposed striking language that would limit committee membership to 4 representatives from each party.
Next Steps
The next UAW Research and UW bargaining session is scheduled for Friday, August 28, and will be held virtually.