UW Bargaining Update: 7/30/09

We continue to be disappointed in the UW’s negotiations team’s refusal to bargain over anything significant.  While insisting that they have the right to everything else we bargained last year, they have made it clear that they believe economics are off the table.

As you no doubt remember, we made the decision to forgo across the board increases in order to keep layoffs to a minimum.  Before the announcement was made, however, we asked for and received assurances from the UW Administration that NO ONE was getting raises.  That meant no raises for classified or non-classified, union or non-union.

Now, we know that both nurses unions received ALL of their increases.  Those contracts include several non-nurse titles at Harborview that match the ones at UWMC.  But the University has now reversed its agreement to keep the "like titles" at both hospitals equal, so that Harborview Respiratory Care Practitioners, for instance, will make around 9% more than those at UWMC.

We did the right thing, trying to save jobs and keep the University solvent.  Now we are paying the price.  So, reluctantly, we have filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the University for refusing to bargain over economics with us.  That charge will be heard in October, and we hope that it will require the University to sit back down down at the table and negotiate with us.

In the meantime, we have national health care reform to help pass, a deadly initiative that would keep our state at its current deficit forever to defeat, and a country executive to elect.

A newsletter will be distribute mid August with more specific information and actions we can take to save health care and our state budget.

Your bargaining team,
Jody Bundrock
Lois Egan
Christine Lakey
Anne Lawson
Dornie MacKenzie
Ron Maxell
Jose Mayorga
Tom Small
Kathy Thomason

download the newsletter here:  UW Newsletter August 2009