Bargaining Update 4: Management Won’t Acknowledge AI, Bullying. We Won’t Back Down.
Our CCC bargaining team held the fourth bargaining session of the season with management yesterday. It was a lengthy one, and we went back and forth about several topics, including our proposals about workplace bullying and AI use and implementation.
We need to hear from you! Please fill out our bargaining survey today so we can advocate for your top priorities at the table.
Thank you to our siblings who have filled out our bargaining survey! Your responses matter and help guide our team as we advocate for your top priorities in our next contract. The more information we have, the better we can fight for what you want to see in your contract!
We have a long list of priorities for this session, but addressing workplace bullying - the leading non-economic issue raised by our bargaining unit - is second only to compensation. We know that inappropriate treatment at your workplace is a huge detriment to your quality of life and ability to show up at work every day.
That’s why we were so disappointed when management refused to accept a formal definition for bullying, contract language that would improve our ability to fight back against inappropriate workplace conduct.
Despite management’s attempts to redirect our attention to this matter, we are staying strong and will not back down on these changes. No one deserves to feel unsafe or uncomfortable at work.
AI Implementation: Management Stalling
Another highlight of our session was management refusing to accept responsibility for the tidal wave of AI being used in our colleges. We are requesting responsible research to be conducted regarding AI implementation, considering the impact AI will have on our jobs, data security for information used with AI, and the environmental impacts of AI.
Management does not want to budge.
Watch the video update from CCC Bargaining Team member Johnny Dwyer here.
However, we are making progress in other areas. Notably, we’ve been pursuing more equitable options for bargaining unit members around winter break closures. Not all of us celebrate holidays during our colleges’ winter breaks or have the flexibility to take time off. We’re fighting for options that fit the needs of all our workers.
Coming Up: Compensation
Compensation proposals are coming up fast. We all know Washington is having a tough budget year, statewide. But our state can’t expect our workers to provide excellent services when inflation continually outpaces our pay increases. It isn’t sustainable.
"I'm going from a middle-class family to a poor family,” said bargaining team member Dan Andreason, Whatcom Community College. “We're having to watch our budgets more than ever before, and they're going down faster and faster.”
We hear the same thing, year after year: our state doesn’t have enough money for wage increases. But we know that isn’t true—we see our colleges contracting out workers for hundreds of dollars an hour. We see our chancellors and executives getting massive bonuses and going on extravagant trips. We know the work we do every day, the work that keeps our higher education systems functioning, is worthy of pay that allows us to live and raise families in the communities we serve.
"With how much inflation has increased, we are effectively making $5 an hour less than 3 years ago, for the same work,” said bargaining team member Bear Ryver, South Puget Sound Community College. “There has to be some acknowledgement of that from management regarding wage increases."
Find more information about our June 10 bargaining session in our video update here.
We Need Your Support: May 30 Follow-Up, Next Session 6/25
Our bargaining team needs your support to remind management why we deserve a fair contract—and what will happen if we don’t get one.
Thank you to everyone who came out for our Community Engagement Event on May 30! Businesses all around Washington are showing their support for our union as we fight for a fair contract. Management are community members, too, and the signs in local businesses around our state are a constant reminder that the public supports us.
If you have a favorite business that would show WFSE some love, click here for more information on how to get visibility in your community!
We want to share your story. Let us know why what you do matters to your college, your community, and what would happen if you left.
Fill out our bargaining survey! Your voice is important and we want your input to guide our team in negotiations.
Our next bargaining session is June 25. Show your solidarity by wearing your WFSE green to work and use the Teams/Zoom background every bargaining day. Download backgrounds here!
Find more on the Community College Coalition landing page.