Summary of 4/10/23 bargaining session + Equity Day on 4/24!

April 12, 2023

Monday (4/10) was our 7th bargaining session with WSU Admin. As always, proposals mentioned in the summary below will be linked here, on the WSU-CASE website.

TL;DR:

• Management sent us a counterproposal on Personnel Files. We responded with our own counterproposal which allowed us to come to a Tentative Agreement on this article!
• We presented a Health & Safety counterproposal.
• Management returned a Grievance & Arbitration counterproposal. We discussed and sent a counterproposal back to them.
• We presented a Discipline counterproposal.
• Management presented a Training counterproposal.
• RSVP for an organizing training (5pm 4/17) and Equity Day (1pm 4/24 during bargaining)! See below for more info. 

• Yesterday, in their counter proposal on Personnel Files, management continued to claim that they do not keep ASE personnel files in a consistent manner, and that doing so would produce an administrative burden. We pushed back on this in our counterproposal and ultimately came to an agreement that will ensure that every ASE will be notified of where to find their personnel file and how to access it–in addition to having the right to request changes to it and to add comments. They accepted this solution and we reached a Tentative Agreement.
• We presented a Health & Safety counterproposal that argued for holistic solutions to maintain the health of ASEs in the workplace. We continue to insist on language which would retain our right to use the union grievance process to address any issues in our workplace which create an unsafe environment.
• Management presented a Grievance & Arbitration counterproposal which would exclude Title IX matters from the grievance process. We passed back a counterproposal which rejected this addition; as demonstrated at other universities with union representation, as discrimination and harassment are grievable issues (more on this below!). In our counterproposal, we were also adamant about preventing barriers to all ASEs’ ability to report grievances by retaining our language to allow ASEs to file a grievance without union signatory. Further, we are advocating for ASEs to have the choice to skip the step of filing their grievance with their Department Chair and move straight to filing with the Dean of the Graduate School when necessary. This article is the backbone of our contract and we will stay firm in protecting our ability to grieve any violations of our contract.
• We passed back a Discipline article in which we similarly maintained our right to grieve contract violations. This counterproposal also reasserted our right for Union representation in situations in which ASEs feel unsafe or unable to participate in investigatory proceedings alone.
• Finally, Management presented a counterproposal on Training. The changes were small, and we feel confident we will be able to reach a Tentative Agreement soon.

1. *NEW* April 24th is Equity Day: we’re tired of the crumbs, time to seize the whole damn slice. 
   • On 3/27, Management proposed an article that would prevent us from addressing harassment and discrimination through our union grievance process, arguing (incorrectly) that this type of problem should be solved exclusively by University-controlled Title IX processes. ASEs are not satisfied with a broken Title IX system that time after time denies justice to survivors and fails to address the systemic problems of harassment and discrimination at WSU.
   • At the bargaining session scheduled for 4/24, starting at 1PM, the bargaining committee plans to present five new proposals to make our equity demands clear. These presentations will include testimony from fellow ASEs & WSU ASE alum, research presentations about discrimination in the workplace, expert testimony, and more. We encourage every ASE to attend this session; it is essential to show management that we are standing firm on our right to protection against harassment and discrimination. RSVP here, and tell us how you’d like to participate.
2. RSVP for organizing training on Monday 4/17 from 6-7pm: come learn–or get a refresher–on how to have powerful, effective organizing conversations in which you motivate a coworker to participate in collective action. We’ll focus on practicing conversations to turn people out to the 4/24 Equity Day bargaining action! Experienced and new organizers welcome. 
3. RSVP to attend other bargaining sessions. Our next session is Wednesday, April 19th.
4. Join a workgroup! Each workgroup develops proposals on specific subjects that we wish to negotiate. These subjects range from parking and wages to healthcare and harassment, and everything in between.