Bargaining News - Faculty

DATA RELATED TO BARGAINING:

Facts relevant to bargaining (5/1)

Status of significant issues in bargaining (4/26)

Comparison with other Washington public universities (updated 4/26)

Comparison with Cal State System, Rutgers and EWU faculty contracts (3/27)

Description of the contract mediation process.

PLEASE NOTE that any charts comparing faculty salaries with peer data that rely on 2007-2008 salaries are inaccurate because they do not reflect the pending increases, including one-time and permanent adjustments currently in negotiation. (CWU and EWU salaries which were negotiated mid year, are also not fully reflected in national data.) For that reason, university data are only provided through 2006-2007.

May 5 , 2008

Update on Salary Increases, Agreements Reached, and Items Under Discussion

WWU and the UFWW are continuing negotiations toward a first contract with the help of mediator Claire Nickleberry from the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC).  The University bargaining team respects our faculty colleagues and the bargaining process which is new to the University culture.  

This update is intended to be factual and informational, recognizing that the process is ongoing and positions on outstanding issues will change.

Five two-day mediation sessions have been held since mid February.  During the last session on April 24-25, agreements were reached on several items and discussion continues on the remaining key issues. The next session is scheduled for May 12, 13.

University Offered 8.9% Faculty Salary Increases April 24

On April 24, Western offered 4.5% increase for the current academic year and 4.4% for the academic year that begins September 2008, as the parties continue to exchange proposals toward a new contract agreement. In addition, the proposal includes 1% of one time pay on the current base salary, and 9% of the faculty would receive increases to their base salary of $4000 each based on merit during the academic year 2008-2009.

The university’s bargaining team expected the union to provide a counter offer on salaries on the morning of the 25th so that further progress could be made toward reaching an agreement. The union did not provide a counter proposalthat morning nor at any time that day. The two day bargaining session closed with no movement from the union from its last salary proposal of April 15.

The university’s current across the board compensation offer of 8.9% is higher than the across the board compensation at Eastern Washington (8.4%), Central Washington (7%), and Washington State (7.2%). University of Washington compensation increases have a significant merit, compression and equity component which does not enable an across the board comparison. The University of Washington and Washington State University both generated additional revenue used for salary and program enhancements from a 7% tuition increase in each year. WWU tuition increases were capped at 5%.

Agreements Reached

During the two-day session with a mediator, the parties signed off on language in five sections:

• Union Rights (agreed 4/16)
• Partnership Committee
• Discharge and Discipline Procedures
• Release time for Faculty Senate Officers
• Faculty Promotion increases

The parties previously reached agreement on 13 major sections (for a total of 18 sections) and on substantial portions of three other sections. The agreements are posted on the university’s web site.

Items Under Discussion

The University team made proposals on several subjects that are still on the table, including: compensation; discipline and discharge procedures with a fact finding process; language continuing the practice of allowing qualified exempt and classified staff to teach without moving them into the bargaining unit; and miscellaneous subjects related to ratification and definitions. The Union bargaining team generated proposals for consideration on exempt and classified teaching and new language to establish a complaint process.

The University actively generated proposals up until late Friday afternoon and was prepared to offer counterproposals when the union was ready to respond. After the union decided not to respond to the university’s last compensation proposal, Mediator Claire Nickleberry determined that further movement was unlikely and closed the session. She will conduct discussions this week about next steps.