BELLINGHAM - The Western Washington University Board of Trustees approved the University's first union contract with faculty at today's Board of Trustees regular meeting.
The United Faculty of Western Washington (UFWW) membership recently ratified the contract with a 98 percent yes vote. The vote by the Board of Trustees concludes the process of ratifying the first contract between the University administration and the UFWW.
"The Trustees thank both bargaining teams for their dedication and commitment to developing a contract that reflects the University's strategic plan. The Trustees are committed to continuing to work within Western's strategic plan to recognize the core commitment to the excellence of Western's faculty within the context of achieving the many aspects of engaged excellence that are articulated within that strategic plan," said Kevin Raymond, chairman of Western's Board of Trustees.
"The Board of Trustees is pleased with the outcome of the long negotiations and we recognize the contract as a solid platform for continued advancement of Western's educational mission," Raymond said.
President Karen W. Morse thanked members of both bargaining teams for their hard work in concluding the contract, which extends through September 2011. "Both teams collaborated to reach a fair contract that is of benefit to both the faculty and the University," Morse said.
Bill Lyne, UFWW president, told the Trustees that members of the bargaining teams worked diligently to reach an agreement.
"This is a great contract that will serve the University well, and I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to get it done," Lyne said.
Morse noted that, as often is the case for a first contract, this process took longer than anticipated. Nationwide, it has not been uncommon for a first contract to take as much as 18 months to two years or longer, because of the detailed discussion involved in a comprehensive reworking of the employment relationship. Western's Faculty Senate took nearly three years to revise the tenure and promotion process a few years ago. As a consequence of that groundwork, tentative agreement was achieved through negotiation of that chapter of the contract in August, 2007.
The agreement includes:
- A one-time bonus of 4 percent on 2007-2008 base pay, which will be paid to all qualified faculty;
- A 10.5 percent increase in salary for all qualified faculty beginning September 2008;
- Merit pay of $4,000 for 9 percent of the tenured and tenure-track faculty;
- On disciplinary action, an appeal process with final authority in a seven-member committee with three members appointed by the Board of Trustees and three by the UFWW. The committee will be chaired by a person jointly selected by the UFWW president and the Board of Trustees chair. The committee chair will convene and chair the committee and will vote in the case of a tie;
- A 10 percent increase in department chair stipends;
- A new category of senior instructor with a 7 percent increase in compensation upon advancement;
- Binding arbitration on contract interpretation.
For more information, see http://www.wwu.edu/bargainingnews/faculty/
The Trustees also approved revised operating budgets for 2007-09 that include an average one-time .5 percent increase for exempt professional staff in 2007-08 in addition to 3.2 percent implemented Sept. 1, 2007, and, on average, a 4 percent increase in September 2008.
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