Washington State University Contract Voting Documents and Timeline
WFSE members have voted to ratify the tentative agreement for your 2027-29 union contract!
Thank you to the bargaining team for their hard work at the negotiating table and every member who supported them by making calls, sending emails, and getting loud in our communities.
What's next? Get involved in our union's Legislative and Political Action program to win funding for your union contract, protect jobs and services, defeat the repeal of the Millionaires' Tax in November, pass the AI bargaining bill, and more.
For a bigger picture of how our contracts receive funding, check out our Road to a Fair Contract.
Don't fall for "Opt Out Today." Many of us are getting messages from a group called Opt Out Today, a project of the anti-worker, billionaire-funded “Freedom” Foundation.
In short, the people who have been trying to cut public workers pay and benefits for years aren't trying to save you money. Here's what they're really about.
Find details of the agreement below.
Message from Your Bargaining Team
Negotiation of the 2027-2029 WSU Tentative Agreement (TA) has concluded.
As you all know, the budget deficit continues to grow, and compensation discussions were incredibly difficult as a result. Despite these grim circumstances, we were able to secure a 1% pay increase in each year of the contract. Additionally, we successfully fought off takeaways and have secured a “Me-Too” agreement should the WFSE General Government team achieve any increases above 1% during their reopener for the second year of the contract.
Based on member feedback, your bargaining team leveraged the budgetary challenges to make every non-economic gain possible, and those gains are significant.
Because of these achievements, your WSU Bargaining Team recommends that you vote YES to ACCEPT this Agreement. A complete copy of the tentative agreement is available.
See the links below for a complete copy of the TA, highlights, voting instructions, and a flyer.
We want to thank you all for your hard work, research, job actions, and solidarity. Your strength makes all the difference!
If you have questions, contact the Member Connection Center (MCC) at [email protected] or 833-MCC-WFSE (1-833-622-9373).
Your WFSE WSU Bargaining Team
Job Title | |
Jason Brausen | Program Coordinator - Curriculum |
Nathan Smith | Library and Archive Professional 4 |
Download and Share the TA Highlights flyer
Highlights
As you all know, the budget deficit continues to grow, and compensation discussions were incredibly difficult as a result. Despite these grim circumstances, we were able to secure a 1% pay increase in each year of the contract. Additionally, we successfully fought off takeaways and have secured a “Me-Too” agreement should the WFSE General Government team achieve any increases above 1% during their re-opener for the second year of the contract.
- Secured additional funding for healthcare and protected current cost share
- Secured 1% increase in each year of the contract during a time when most contracts received 0% increases.
- Secured four hours of notification time instead of thirty minutes for mandatory overtime.
- Secured four days of notification time before any temporary schedule changes.
Based on member feedback, your bargaining team leveraged the state’s economic deficit to make every non-economic gain possible in these challenging budget times, and those gains were significant. Read on for more information.
Article 2 – Non-Discrimination
- Protections from discrimination if you are the victim of a hate crime or a whistleblower.
Article 5 – Union Rights and Responsibilities
- Ability for Union to directly use state email.
Article 6 – Hours of Work, Schedules, and Overtime
- Secures four days’ notice before a temporary schedule change.
- Ensures written notification for schedule changes.
Article 7 – Hiring and Appointments
- Job postings must now identify telework eligibility, salary range, benefits, and a link to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
- Upon request, internal candidate who are not selected for a position can be provided with feedback regarding their application and interview.
Article 11 – Layoff and Recall
- Extends ability to add up to five years of military service for members to verify service through DD-214 “or other official military records.”
- Ensured two years of recall rights following a layoff.
- Secured right to remain on recall list even refusing a job offer after layoff.
Article 15 – Benefits
- In addition to the health care items noted at the top:
- Protected any SmartHealth benefit that is earned in 2027!
- Protected the Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) benefits for all workers making $68,004.00 or less annually (see 43.5)!
- Protected the FSA workgroup MOU, which provides a path to increase participation in this important benefit!
Article 20 – Shared Leave
- Extends ability to access shared leave to victims of hate crimes, parental leave, pregnancy disability leave, or attendance at immigration proceedings.
- Also extends definition of family member to children who are foster, step, or adopted; children under legal guardianship regardless of age; step parents, foster parents, and more.
Article 21 – Other Leave
- Memorializes five guaranteed days of bereavement leave.
- Extends bereavement leave in the event of a loss of pregnancy.
- Expands qualifying relatives for bereavement leave to aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and beyond as well as corresponding relatives of spouses or domestic partners.
- Secures leave during a pandemic to receive vaccinations if not available on campus.
- Provides for 24 hours of leave to members experiencing extraordinary or severe impacts due to wildfire during a state of emergency.
MOU – Parking
- Retains Cattle Feeding Lot as a blue lot and ensures members have continued access.
Your WSU Bargaining Team recommends you
VOTE YES TO ACCEPT this Agreement!
Not a member, but want to vote? It’s not too late!
You can join here: Join | AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE)
How did we get here?
Read all the bargaining updates from this round of negotiations on our WSU landing page here.