June 23, 2023
We had a busy day of bargaining on Wednesday, June 21:
TL;DR:
- We presented counter proposals: Grievance and Arbitration and Anti-Discrimination and Harassment
- We presented Job Titles and a set of economic proposals including Health Insurance, Wages, Fees and Tuition Waiver, and Child and Dependent Care
- We asked clarifying questions about Discipline and Immigration.
- Admin presented a counterproposal on Discipline.
Please read on for more details. As a reminder, you can review the full proposals that were discussed in the Bargaining Center (updated within 24 hours of each bargaining session).
Yesterday, testimonies were presented from current and former ASEs about the harm caused by our poverty wages, expensive fees and childcare costs, and inadequate health insurance plan. We presented economic proposals including waivers for all Fees and Tuition for all ASEs, a Wages proposal that reflects living wages for all campus locations, Health Insurance that provides us with affordable care, and a Child and Dependent Care proposal advocating for equitable access to child and dependent care! It is unconscionable that many ASEs have to survive on food stamps and food banks while putting off medical care.
The proposed Wages article increases stipends for all ASEs that would bring everyone up to at least the living wage for their campus location as determined by the MIT Living Wage. We also proposed an experienced-based increase of 7.5% for completing a Masters degree and passing PhD candidacy. Finally, we proposed annual cost of living (COL) increases in wages that reflect the average change to the COL in Whitman County over the last 10 years. The goal of this proposal is to bring ASEs out of poverty and provide sufficient income to cover basic needs without incurring debt. Admin offered few immediate thoughts on this proposal, and the few comments they did make suggested that they thought our proposal was unreasonable. We expect that we’ll continue to hear these characterizations from them, particularly their insinuation that our proposal does not take into account the 50% FTE status of many ASEs or the fact that we receive tuition waivers. Our proposal is well researched, and we carefully considered these points before putting it on the table. ASEs need to be able to live on the wages from their appointment, and tuition waivers cannot pay our bills. This sentiment will not deter what we collectively believe to be a respectable living wage for ASEs. Our livelihood and health are not a zero-sum game.
In addition, we proposed the following short and sweet article on Fees and Tuition Waivers: “ASEs will receive a waiver for all tuition and fees.” In no other industry do employees pay their employer in order to be able to work. Fees place an undue burden on ASEs and further limit our ability to earn a wage we can live on.
Numerous ASEs provided testimonial about their difficulty accessing healthcare, having to pay tremendous costs out of pocket, and having to choose between paying bills and receiving vital medical care. The Healthcare proposal increases our network coverage to 95% for in and out-of- network providers. This plan also expands coverage in multiple areas including mental healthcare, gender-affirming care, prescription coverage, and dental coverage. Our insurance benefit should be a recruiting tool, not a barrier for ASEs seeking medical, vision, dental, or mental healthcare. Again, admin began to suggest that our proposal is unreasonable. We find it extremely reasonable to demand that all ASEs are able to access an affordable doctor in their city, and have communicated to admin that we are more than willing to find creative paths toward achieving this goal.
We recognize the importance of supporting ASEs with children and dependents – it should not be a choice between either graduate school or your family. In the Child and Dependent Care article, we proposed equitable access to care and subsidies for parents and caregivers in our unit.
In the Anti-Discrimination counterproposal, we continued to press that issues of discrimination and harassment will be subject to the grievance procedure neutral third-party arbitration, as well as protections for individuals experiencing discrimination and/or harassment. In the Grievance counterproposal, we continue to assert that individuals be able to skip the first step of meeting with their department chair when appropriate. Also, we continue to maintain the importance of having a longer timeline for individuals to file grievances.
Bargaining Continues!
Throughout the summer, we will continue to bargain for better employment standards for all TAs, RAs, GAs, tutors, graders, and other ASEs. Here are the bargaining dates for the remainder of summer:
July 12, July 20, August 2 (10-5), August 15 (10-5)
*Unless otherwise specified, these days run from 9AM to 5PM.
As always, all ASEs are welcome to participate in bargaining by RSVPing here. You are welcome to come for any amount of time and participate however you feel comfortable; stopping by just to listen in is great too! You can also join workgroups or the weekly bargaining committee meeting by RSVPing here. If you would be interested in providing testimony to support the proposals being presented, you can submit your experience here.
Don’t see a way you’d like to get involved in bargaining & organizing? Have other questions? Email contact@wsucase.org, and someone will be in touch soon!
In Solidarity,
Acacia Patterson, Physics & Astronomy (Pullman)
Adam Bozman, Carson College of Business – Finance (Pullman)
Andre Diehl, Comparative Ethnic Studies (Pullman)
Arianna Gonzales, Psychology (Pullman)
Aurora Brinkman, Psychology (Pullman)
Chelsea Mitchell, School of the Environment (Puyallup Research and Extension Center)
Chia-Hui Chen, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Spokane)
Claudia Skinner, School of Languages, Cultures, and Race (Pullman)
Cody Lauritsen, College of Veterinary Medicine (Pullman)
Coty Jasper, Integrative Physiology & Neuroscience (Vancouver)
Dano Holt, School of the Environment (Pullman)
Evan Domsic, Crop and Soil Science (Mount Vernon NWREC)
Gavin Doyle, English (Pullman)
Hannah Cohen, Veterinary Clinical Sciences (Pullman)
Kartik Sreedhar, Physics & Astronomy (Pullman)
Kayla Spawton, Plant Pathology (Mount Vernon NWREC)
Kelsey King, School of Biological Sciences (Vancouver)
Miles Hopkins, School of the Environment (Pullman)
Miranda Zuniga-Kennedy, Clinical Psychology (Pullman)
Naseeha Cardwell, Chemical Engineering & Bioengineering (Pullman/Tri-Cities)
Natalie Yaw, Chemistry (Pullman)
Ninh Khuu, Plant Pathology (Prosser)
Peter Obi, Pharmaceutical Sciences (Spokane)
Raymond Bennett, Psychology (Pullman)
Rebecca Evans, Biology (Vancouver)
Shawn Domgaard, Communication (Pullman)
Tazin Rahman, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (Pullman)
Tholen Justin Blasko, Animal Sciences (Pullman)
Victor Moore, History (Pullman)
Victoria Oyanna, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Spokane)
Whitney Shervey, Sociology (Pullman)
Yiran Guo, Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Pullman)