University of Washington Human Resources

UW – SAG-AFTRA Negotiations Recap for June 22

Background

This recap details the sixth session for the negotiation of the second collective bargaining agreement between the University of Washington (UW) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) for KUOW. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.

Tentative Agreements

The parties verbally tentatively agreed to the following:

New Article – Salary Overpayment Recovery

• New article outlines the current process followed when the Employer has determined that an employee has been overpaid wages

MOU – Ratification Incentive

• Agreed to strike this out-of-date Memorandum of Understanding

SAG-AFTRA Counter Proposals

Article 9 – Overtime

In response to the Employer’s proposal, the Union propose language stating that the Employer would not disallow overtime requests that are the result of factors outside of the Employee’s control such as waiting for responses from sources or coverage for a fellow Employee. The Union maintained its proposal that Hosts and News Hosts would become overtime eligible positions.

Article 20 – Leaves

In response to the Employer, the Union proposed that employees would accrue one hour of Discretionary Time Off (DTO) for every hour of work which presents readily apparent danger including, but not limited to, mass civil unrest, physical assault or violence, severe acts of nature or weather, destruction of man-made structures, facilities, and infrastructure, or other such events which present a danger. The Union also proposed that the Employer would make slight modifications to its existing DTO policy in line with what the Employer had previously proposed prior to bargaining conversations. Those modifications include adding that employees who serve on interview panels will be eligible for DTO, and that employees who receive award nomination(s) for their work will receive one DTO day per award nomination and one additional day of DTO per win. As participation in committees results in DTO according to the policy, the Employer also proposed that employees would be required to have supervisor approval to participate in committees, that no employees would be disqualified from participating in committees as a result of their job titles, and that additional committees could be added to the list of those that qualify employees for DTO.

The Union also proposed language stating that in the event that the Employer implements a new category of leave applicable to the University as a whole or creates new allowances for using accrued leave which is more permissive than allowed for in the contract, the parties would agree to bargain over including such new policies as part of said contract.

New Article – Sick Time Off

In response to the Employer, the Union proposed language stating that for foreseeable absences, employees should provide notice at least 10 days in advance of the absence, or as early as practicable to schedule sick time off in advance. If advance notice is not practicable, employees would notify the Station as soon as possible in accordance with the Employer’s call-out procedures.

New Article – Affiliation Announcement

The Union modified its proposal for an affiliation announcement. Under this proposal, KUOW would air a 10-second SAG-AFTRA audio affiliation announcement on KUOW radio as part of any story produced by the KUOW/SAG-AFTRA unit focusing on unions, the union movement, or workers’ rights. KUOW would append the same SAG-AFTRA audio affiliation announcement to all podcasts produced during the term focusing on the same topics.

UW Package Counter Proposals

The package contained the following new counters:

Article 9 – Overtime

In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer proposed language stating that the Employer determines the products, services, and standards that must be met by employees and the level of overtime necessary to complete the work. The Employer also proposed language stating that overtime needs may also be an appropriate agenda item for Joint Union Management committee meetings.

Article 14 – Temporary Hourly Fill-Ins

In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer proposed that the Employer would provide the Union with the name of temporary hourly fill-in hires, expected length of hire, and the reason for the hire within 10 business days of their hire.

Article 36 – Cell Phone Policy

In response to the Union, the Employer proposed that upon request, employees who were last issued a cell phone at least three years ago would be provided with a replacement.

Article 38 – Broadcast Host Premium

The Employer proposed to modify the language regarding the broadcast host premium to state that the premium would be payable on the first available pay period, as determined by the Employer, following the tenth working day, rather than payable on the first pay period of the following year.

Article 39 – Compensation

The Employer proposed to add language clarifying that no employee may be hired below the minimum annual salary of their job profile.

Minimum Annual Salaries (Appendix I)
The Employer proposed the following increases to the minimum annual salaries in Appendix I:

• July 1, 2022, or on the first available pay period following ratification as determined by the Employer, whichever is later: 9%.
• July 1, 2023: 2.5%
• July 1, 2024: 2%

Across-the-Board Increases
The Employer proposed the following across-the-board increases to all members of the bargaining unit over their current salary:

• July 1, 2022, or on the first available pay period following ratification as determined by the Employer, whichever is later: 3%.
• July 1, 2023: 2.5%
• July 1, 2024: 2%

Temporary Pay Increase (TPI)
The Employer proposed that an employee who, for 10 or more consecutive working days, is temporarily assigned additional duties by management at the same level or who is assigned additional higher-level responsibilities by management, would receive a temporary pay increase of at least 5% over their current salary. The pay increase would be retroactive to the first day of working the additional duties. Alternatively, the employee could choose to stop assuming those duties, and their TPI would stop.

MOU – Job Class Specification Review

In response to the new job class specification titles proposed by the Union, the Employer proposed to meet quarterly for the next 12 months, starting within 60 days of ratification, to discuss specifications for the new job class specification titles. The MOU states that the parties acknowledge that this process could lead to UW Compensation considering whether to update existing classification specifications or create new ones in accordance with the article on classifications and reclassifications the Employer has proposed.

MOU – Discretionary Time Off

In response to the Union’s proposal, the Employer incorporated the DTO policy edits outlined above. Off (DTO) Policy to state In exchange for these updates, the Employer proposed that the Union would withdraw both its grievance and unfair labor practice complaint related to DTO.

Next Steps

The next UW and SAG-AFTRA bargaining session is scheduled for June 28 and will be held virtually.