On Friday (10/19), after a week in which members have been energetically communicating our rejection of the University’s proposal to the campus community, UW has filed a new motion with the arbitrator, asking him to reconsider (and vacate) his decision. In their motion (which you can read here) UW argues that the arbitrator’s decision is somehow contrary to state law, and misinterprets the collective bargaining agreement.
However, as those who have read the arbitrator’s May 2012 decision know, the arbitrator ruled that the authority of the University (and student government) to impose or increase student fees does not vacate the University’s obligation to honor its commitments under our contract.
In an effort to keep the process moving, we filed a motion on the same day asking the arbitrator to order a remedy that is consistent with his decision. You can read our motion here.
Wednesday, 10/17
With more than 2,000 ASEs voting, 97% reject the University’s settlement offer in a straw poll vote.
Thursday, 10/18
Members from across campus attend President Michael Young’s state of the University address, pass out flyers to attendees, and present the results of our straw poll vote. At the event a delegation of ASEs ask President Young when he will honor our contract, and present a petition signed by over 1300 people. President Young listened to ASEs and accepted the petition, but he was firm in his response that the University planned to fight the arbitration decision.
You can find press coverage of the event at the UW Daily and the Seattle Times.
We hope the arbitrator will respond to these motions in the coming weeks; in the meantime please keep sending ideas about how to make this issue more visible to the campus community and beyond. Please stay tuned for frequent updates