November 30, 2023
Yesterday we had a full day of bargaining with WSU Admin.
TLDR on what happened in bargaining yesterday:
- Admin only gave us two proposals today on Sexual Harassment and Prevention Training (EPIC) and Employee Rights and Responsibilities
- Our ASE team presented proposals on Anti-Discrimination and Harassment, Respectful Work Environment and Leaves
- We had productive sidebars on Summer Session, Workload, and Vacation, as well as Accommodations and Anti-Discrimination and Harassment
To find more details about proposals discussed at bargaining, read on below. As a reminder, you can review all of the full proposals that were presented in the Bargaining Center, take a look at a Summary of Proposals & RSVP to attend upcoming bargaining sessions (December 11th) here.
Yesterday, our ASE team presented proposals on Anti-Discrimination and Harassment, Respectful Work Environment, and Leaves. After productive conversations throughout the day with WSU’s bargaining team, we are getting closer to resolving the remaining issues in these articles. We are encouraged that we are still having productive conversations with Admin without a mediator.
Admin returned proposals on Sexual Harassment and Prevention Training (EPIC) and Employee Rights and Responsibilities. We are close to an agreement regarding EPIC, but still need to agree on the number of ASEs to be hired to develop the peer-to-peer training program; we have proposed three based on experiences of ASEs in the program at UW, while Admin has proposed just one. In Employee Rights and Responsibilities, admin continues to include language which does not exist in ASE contracts at UW, U of Oregon, Oregon State, or the entire UC system and that we find unnecessary and restrictive.
In our discussions about Workload, our ASE bargaining committee emphasized the importance of equal-pay-for-equal-work, transparency, and consistency to ensure protections during every term, including Summer. We believe workload protections for ASEs at WSU should be similar to the industry standard set by our peers at other universities (including UW, UC, and University of Oregon). Our ASE bargaining team also continues to assert that regardless of changes to funding, ASEs need wage and workload protections during the Summer term. If admin is amenable to these concepts, we could be close to agreement on a set of proposals, including Vacation, Workload, Summer, Holidays, and Job Titles.
In order to reach a fair agreement now, we need more time at the bargaining table and for Admin to come prepared with serious proposals that reflect our worth! We will continue to apply pressure on Admin through direct actions, community-centered methods, and political outreach. Sign up to join a committee via this link.
In Solidarity,
WSU-CASE Bargaining Committee:
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)
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)