We're Walking Out For Washington, TODAY September 10 at 12 pm.
Find your worksite here, or click the links below:
Last week’s session was another frustration-filled meeting that left us feeling like we haven’t moved forward on our hardline issues, like compensation, leave, and employee rights at University of Washington campuses across the state.
“They have this mantra about being the employer of choice, but they aren’t following through on it,” said one of your bargaining team members. “We’re trying to survive. I don’t understand why they won’t do right by us when they keep claiming to want to be the employer of choice.”
The whole team was wondering the same thing. Proposal after proposal was shut down by UW’s negotiator. We were able to TA a few articles, but one bargaining team member said it felt like “tit for tat,” one step forward and two steps back as we fought for UW’s team to take our requests seriously.
Management is still fighting to remove the double-time overtime MOU that has been in place for four years, saying that staffing levels are high enough that double-time is an unnecessary expense to the University. However, our members know that staffing levels are often critical, turnover rates are high, and burnout is rampant within the University.
“Double-time means a lot to the people who are sacrificing their lives and time with their families to better their lives,” said one of your bargaining team members. “If they get rid of this MOU, people aren’t going to want to work extra.”
UW management didn’t believe us when we brought this concern up, saying that people worked overtime before the pandemic-era MOU was implemented. However, the cost of living in Seattle and Western Washington has increased so much that many workers need significant economic boosts to afford basic necessities.
Workers at UW are painfully aware of this. They had to fight the University to establish employee-run food banks at Harborview because UW pays such low wages that workers are too hungry to do their jobs. This pantry is maintained by employees without the help of UW.
UW management has gone up a single percentage in their wage offers, which doesn’t keep up with inflation in and around Seattle. This “increase” essentially amounts to a pay cut, and is a slap in the face for hard-working employees of the UW–the workers who are on the ground every day, ensuring that the University functions.
On top of that, management continues to push their apprenticeship program which has failed in the past. The program proposed by UW would underpay apprentices and take years for them to get to a pay scale they can reach in months via private apprenticeships.
“They’re looking to sell this as an opportunity when it’s exploitative,” said one of your bargaining team members. “This program requires people to be underpaid and requires additional uncompensated labor from the mentors to function.”
Surprising no one, this was another week where your bargaining team’s concerns were ignored. Your team brought up issues with working outside their job class for no extra pay, management’s faulty apprenticeship program, low staffing levels, and more–and management dismissed it, telling them that these issues were one-off occurrences.
Management has, in essence, been telling us that they want to be an exceptional employer, but they treat us like we don’t matter.
We must stand up for ourselves. We’re escalating our actions and walking out on September 10 to remind them who runs the University of Washington.
Join us TODAY, September 10 at 12 pm for our Walkout for Washington. We have strength in numbers, and we know management is nervous. Let’s make some noise and show them that when WSFE fights, WFSE wins!