Continued Progress on Bargaining with SENS-UAW Local 7902, Academic Student Workers
A Message from Sonya Williams, Vice President for Human Resources
On Friday, the university bargaining team and SENS-UAW Local 7902, the union representing our Academic Student Workers (ASW), met again to progress discussions towards a renewed agreement.
Over the past several sessions, we have been encouraged by the productive dialogue and progress made at the table. The university is committed to reaching agreement quickly. To that end, following is a brief recap of the key highlights to this point.
- On July 17, at our very first bargaining session, the university put forward a full package addressing all items in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement on the table, which included a 29% wage increase over the life of the contract—intended as a starting point for discussion.
- The union’s proposals have come in over time, with their wage proposal received on October 27.
- That same day, October 27, the university and the union also reached agreement on Ground Rules, mutually agreeing that both parties would attempt to resolve non-economic issues before moving to economic issues.
- At our previous session on January 26, the union asked that we start discussing economic issues, and the university presented an economic package this past Friday addressing a number of economic issues, as well as continuing to make progress on the outstanding non-economic issues.
- The university has, from the outset, offered flexibility for bargaining sessions, including requesting additional dates, availability outside of working hours, and longer meeting times to move the negotiations along. The union has declined these offers.
Friday’s session began with both sides sharing updated proposals on non-economic issues. Productive discussion followed, and the university will continue evolving its packages in light of the union’s feedback.
The university then presented an economic package focused on a number of pending articles, including a proposal to provide Academic Student Workers access to the university’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and other proposed benefit enhancements. The university’s proposals directly respond to the union’s input at previous bargaining sessions.
The union bargaining team expressed appreciation for the university’s movement on economic issues, and the university looks forward to coming to the table with revised economic packages covering core issues like wages and healthcare.
We are aware that SENS leadership announced that they are prepared to open a strike authorization vote beginning today, February 12. A vote does not mean an actual strike is planned or will occur—only that SENS union leaders would have the authority to call one at a future date, if they decide to do so. While we respect the union’s right to strike, we believe recent sessions have demonstrated that we can successfully move forward together. We are hopeful the union will remain focused on progressing negotiations in good faith so we can reach an agreement to benefit our Academic Student Workers soon.
Bargaining dates are planned for February 26, March 1 and March 8, with each session scheduled to last two hours. The university has asked for longer sessions to be able to make greater progress, and we hope the union will agree to our request.
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