During our meeting on Wednesday, March 18, our bargaining committee continued to discuss the non-economic aspects of our bargaining agenda.
The committee passed proposals in response to University’s counterproposals related to Appointment Notification, Leaves of Absence, Academic Excellence, Micro-aggressions, Bathroom Equity, Discipline or Dismissal, and Union Management. This included lengthy discussions around crafting language that speaks to and supports an ASE’s right to due process when faced with administrative leave related to disciplinary action and the importance of notifying the Union at the same time as an ASE is notified of administrative leave. We stressed to the University the importance of regular communication and transparency during any investigation related to administrative leave.
Furthermore, the University requested that the Union participate in an Human Resources Administration Forum by giving a ten-minute presentation on Micro-aggressions. The Forum will be held at the UW Tower Auditorium on April 10, 10:30am – 12:00pm. And the University is continuing to investigate further details around 26 new gender-neutral bathrooms to be installed across campus. The University and the Union came to tentative agreements on several proposals, including Health and Safety, Job Posting, Non-Discrimination, Parking and Transit, Union Rights, and more.
Unfortunately, for other items, including Appointment Notification, Childcare, Micro-aggressions, Intellectual Property, Debt Management, Academic Excellence, and Lactation Stations, the University offered little in response beyond promises to engage these items further at a later meeting. Today’s session made it clear that the University will require significant pressure to move forward on these items, notably on the RFP for healthcare, for which there has been no update, and on Micro-aggressions, as we were unable even to secure an agreement on language that states that ASEs have the right to not experience Micro-aggressions.
The University responded to our proposals with only a few changes of their own on the Grievance procedure, to which we will respond very soon. This is a very small step forward in our negotiations with the University. We also continued to press the University to respond to our outstanding information requests, particularly about the GAIP Health Plan. IMPORTANT! Related to healthcare, members should have received a notification by email about the hack on Premera and LifeWise. Be on the lookout for a letter from LifeWise with information about your account.
Finally, the University passed us a flash drive with several items related to our Request for Information; we will review those items and assess our situation regarding the information we need to draft our remaining proposals.
The following aspects of our bargaining agenda are still outstanding:
- Appointment Notifications
- Micro-Aggressions
- Lactation Stations
- Bathroom Equity
- Childcare
- Debt Management
- Job Titles
- Leaves of Absence
- Discipline or Dismissal
- RFP for Healthcare
- Intellectual Property
- Training
- Union Security
- Workspace Materials
- Academic Excellence
- Tuition/Fees
- International Student Fee
- Career
- Faith or Conscience
- Undocumented Students
- Voting
- Discipline or Dismissal
- Union Management
- New HR/Payroll System
- Arbitration Pilot
Our next bargaining session will take place Thursday, March 19, at 12:00pm in Condon 311.
To demonstrate publicly the importance of the work ASEs do every day, we conducted an hour-long action (Thursday March 19) at 10:00am at the Communication Building. Over 40 ASEs sat in the office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and graded and did work. At about the 35-minute mark, the dean met with us and heard our concerns and proposals but did not offer much in the way of information or support. We left after the planned one-hour action, chanting, “We’ll Be Back!”
All members are encouraged to attend! For a full list of bargaining dates and times please click see the union’s website or the union’s calendar.