Our next membership meeting will take place on October 12, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in Savery 264.
At this meeting we will dedicate most of our time to finalizing an action plan to address the University’s response to the recent arbitration decision, which found that UW violated our collective bargaining agreement when it unilaterally imposed two new fees without maintaining waivers at their current rates/level. Since the Fall quarter has begun we’ve been receiving an incredible number of inquiries and ideas, and are working with activists (including many new folks!) throughout campus to develop plans for next steps and answer questions. Let us know if you’re interested in getting more involved in these discussions.
Members have rightly been pointing out that the University’s apparent defiance of the arbitrator’s decision strikes at the heart of the premise that is fundamental to our collective bargaining process: that the Union and the University negotiate as equals, and are both bound by terms that have been negotiated in good faith and democratically approved, including our dispute resolution process. The suggestion by UW that it may challenge the outcome of this process in court, potentially spending even more resources while further stalling implementation of this award, calls into question their commitment to this premise.
Please stay tuned for further updates about this critical issue.