Januar y 19, 2023
Unfair Labor Practice Update
We have an update on the Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge that we filed at the beginning of this month. The Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC), in a preliminary ruling, found our ULP charge credible. Now attorneys from the university have 21 days to respond to each aspect of the charge.
Bargaining Update
The update from yesterday is unfortunately more of the same. We reached tentative agreements on several smaller articles but still have not received counter proposals on any of our economic proposals. Early in bargaining, the UW Admin bargaining team communicated unwillingness to provide counter proposals before receiving all of our economic proposals; they have now had our proposals for 7 weeks and have failed to provide any response.
In the counter proposals we did receive, UW showed how little they value diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In the non-discrimination and sexual harassment article, they removed our language about conducting an equity survey in our unit; they also informed us that they will not include RSEs in the EPIC program (anti-sexual harassment training program). When pressed about the removal of the equity survey and asked how they are currently assessing DEI, UW HR said that this is currently done by the “Diversity Blueprint.” We asked about the information they receive from this initiative and the UW VP of HR, Mindy Kornberg, replied “We don’t receive information, it goes to the president I think, and the provost, and it is not provided to HR.” However, UW admin did share that they could invite a representative from the DEI office to speak with us in the future.
To boil it down, UW Admin:
- continued their trend of favoring top down initiatives rather than evidence based joint programs that are developed and sustained with significant RSE input.
- again did not have appropriate people at the bargaining table to adequately discuss subjects of bargaining.
- shared a glaring gap in addressing DEI goals at this university as well as their lack of interest in partnering to assess issues of equity among RSEs.
- stated they aren’t going to offer a program jointly developed by RSEs to best address specific issues related to work environment and sexual harassment.
But unfortunately, the really disappointing proposal responses didn’t stop there. In another counter proposal regarding professional development, UW Admin stated there would be no UW-wide institutional financial support for professional development, and that this financial responsibility falls to departments or individual PIs. Or, as the VP of HR said, “If there’s no funding for professional development, then there’s no professional development. I guess you could pay for it yourself.” How’s that for the University of Washington valuing and investing in their researchers?
You can see all of the proposals we passed yesterday, along with previously passed proposals at our Bargaining Center.
UW Librarians are set to strike on January 25th
At last week’s Board Of Regents meeting, our libraries and press staff colleagues announced that after well over a year of bargaining with UW Admin for their first contract, and still no end in sight to these negotiations, they will strike January 25th if the university doesn’t come to an agreement with them. If you have the means, please consider supporting their strike fund or sharing the link with your network.
And as always, in case you aren’t already a follower, a quick plug for our social media accounts; they are an easy way to stay in the loop: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and also, reach out if you have any questions.
In solidarity,
UWRU/UAW Bargaining Committee
Thaddeus Armstrong
Leila Blair
Nick Bolten
Jai Broome
Erin Carll
Shelly Carpenter
Bonnie Chang
Morgan Crotta
Iván Cruz
Abby Gambrill
Jay Mas Gilvydis
Anya Kalata
Julia Kobelt
Katherine Lasdin
Ellen MacLachlan
Katie Osterhage
Deborah Nemens
Van Redila
Annelise Smith
Galen Stewart
Kambiz Tavabi
Jacob Tietsort
Stacey Wedlake
Ryan Will
Tricia Wu
Joshua Yee