Last updated: October 6, 2026
The University of Washington is now in state of “dynamic status quo,” effective as of May 15, when the Union of American Physicians and Dentists to organize UW Medicine’s Advanced Practice Providers employed by the University of Washington providing treatment services in collaboration with the Fred Hutch Cancer Center.
After a union files a petition with PERC seeking to represent specific classes or titles of employees, the representation process involves a determination of whether the petitioned-for unit is appropriate under PERC rules. This may include an assessment of what job classes/titles are included. If PERC identifies an appropriate unit, it may hold an employee vote on union representation. This process can take a few months.
Washington state collective bargaining law requires an employer not to make any changes to the status quo for terms and conditions of employment until the question of union representation for those employees has been decided. The policy underlying this requirement is that such changes could improperly sway employees considering the question of representation and bias the outcome. Thus, UW must suspend any incomplete decision-making process that might change wages (i.e., retention adjustments, in-grade compensation changes, merit), hours (i.e., FTE changes) and working conditions (i.e., a schedule change, work location, or a change in workload) for employees included the representation petition.
However, the PERC principle of a “dynamic status quo” requires an employer to carry out any decisions that were actually finalized before the filing of the petition. A decision is considered to have been finalized if no further approval or decision at another level is required concerning the substance or timing of the action. And a change that was officially announced or formally agreed with an employee before the filing of the petition it should go forward as planned.
Similarly, an employer may make changes during “dynamic status quo” pursuant to policies or rules if they are unambiguous and well-documented, and such changes have been uniformly made in the exact same way in the past. If both the timing and precise amount of a change are formulaic and can be determined without the exercise of any further management discretion, it should be carried out as specified.
Determining if a particular change is a change in terms and condition of employment and assessing if a change is consistent with “dynamic status quo” is often nuanced and fact-specific. Please be encouraged to ask for guidance. All questions should be directed to Labor Relations – laborrel@uw.edu.