December 13, 2023
On Monday, we had a full day of bargaining with WSU Admin. Last week, we gave Admin a December 15th deadline to give us a fair contract. RSVP to the Sunday 3pm MASS MEETING to decide together the next steps after we see what Friday brings!
TLDR on what happened in bargaining on Monday:
- WSU VP Elizabeth Chilton joined bargaining, responding to last week’s direct action!
- Our bargaining team passed counters on EPIC and Health Insurance
- Reached Tentative Agreement (TA) on Accommodations
- Admin presented a package that included every proposal left on the table, including new proposals on Wages, Job Titles, Professional Development and Career Counseling, Anti-Discrimination and Harassment, and Workload. They proposed their previous counterproposal on all other articles.
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, and RSVP to attend the last bargaining session of the semester on December 15th here.
In response to ASEs’ powerful direct actions last week, WSU Vice President Elizabeth Chilton joined our bargaining session on Monday morning and gave a brief statement. She expressed that she sees ASEs as critical to the functioning of the WSU system, and said she and the WSU bargaining team will do their utmost to ensure that we can reach an agreement for a contract that reflects the dignity and worth of ASEs. We hope this will be reflected in the progress we make at the table this week.
Our ASE team reached a Tentative Agreement on Accommodations! We have now secured strong rights and fair, clear timelines and procedures for securing disability accommodations at work, as well as rights for parenting and pregnant ASEs and protections for ASEs experiencing stalking or domestic violence. We also passed a counter on Sexual Harassment Prevention Training (EPIC) where we reiterated the need to dedicate at least two ASE positions to develop and administer the program.
Admin followed by presenting counters on Job Titles and Professional Development and Career Counseling. We are getting close to agreement on both articles, which will create clearer guidelines for what job titles ASEs fall under and provide key mentorship tools to help ASEs navigate their working relationships with supervisors.
Admin ended the day by making a full package proposal that contained every article left on the table. Their package showed some promising movement; however, many of their articles still present significant problems. Their new proposal on Wages was to raise the minimum monthly assistantship salary to $2099 in Pullman (compared to $1919 in their previous proposal and $2586.5 in our current proposal), with adjustments based on campus. They also added experience-based salary steps, such that starting in August 2024, ASEs in PhD programs would receive a 6% raise, and ASEs already past candidacy would receive an 11% raise.
Clearly, our direct actions have made an impact at the table. Unfortunately, there are still large gaps – Admin’s newest proposal does not address the financial realities ASEs face nor the sacrifices we endure to continue our work that is “critical to the functioning of the WSU system”. Admin’s proposed minimum base pay is not enough for ASEs to live on, as their proposed minimum is far from the cost of living for any of the campus locations. In addition, their proposal for a 2% increase in the second year will almost certainly not keep pace with inflation. It is difficult to perform critical functions for the WSU system when we cannot afford shelter, food, and healthcare in the communities where we work.
All other proposals admin included in this package were their previous counterproposals. Their Leaves proposal would make no improvements to family leave and provide no medical leave at all; their Childcare proposal does not include any financial support for childcare; and their Fees and Tuition Waivers proposal does not provide any waivers beyond those already waived by current practice (operating fee, non-resident tuition waivers). Admin is still passing their proposal on Title IX, which we have continued to reject to protect ASEs’ full rights to a fair process in cases of harassment and discrimination.
We need to keep applying pressure away from the bargaining table. Make sure to join the Mass Meeting on Sunday, December 17 at 3pm, where we will discuss whether admin’s performance at the bargaining table this week met our deadline–and what to do next! RSVP here!
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)