UW union rejects no cost-of-living adjustments
A UW union is negotiating a new contract with UW, bearing cost-of-living in mind.
By Kai Lee
SEIU 925, the union serving Washington’s workers at all levels of education, rejected UW’s proposed contract and they are back in negotiations.
The current contract, which started in 2025 and will last until 2027, gives employees a 40-hour work week and hospital personnel work 80 hours in a 14-day period. It also explained that employees get 12 to 25 paid vacation days per year, which varies based on their time at UW.
“We are disappointed that the union did not recommend the proposed agreement to its members, which likely contributed to the failed ratification vote,” said Victor Balta, UW spokesperson, in a statement sent by email. “We are also concerned that, because of the submission requirements under state law (RCW 41.80), employees may not see wage increases until 2028.” (Balta’s statement also appeared in an article by The Daily).
The members of the union voted against accepting the contract, since they “did not feel that UW was giving us enough,” said Dale Siewert, the Higher Education Chapter President for SEIU 925 and a worker at University of Washington Medical Center, in an email. “We acknowledge that the current budget/political climate is challenging, but UW did not even try to bring non-monetary solutions to the table.”
SEIU 925’s issues boil down to the university and its medical center counterpart “valuing workers,” Siewert said in an email.
“This can obviously take many varied forms. From increased wages, increased time off, protection from selective rule enforcement from management, all the way to very innovative solutions such as a 32-hour workweek with no reduction in take-home pay,” Siewert’s email read. “I believe members feel that we at least deserve as much as was won at state level negotiations, which UW claims they have no interest in matching.”
Some employees are upset with their current pay, especially with rising prices.
“The labor relations folks gave them a 0% raise for the next two years,” said Beth Jeffrey, an academic counselor at UW Tacoma. “A 0% raise in a time where the prices of things go up every single day, and most of us can barely afford groceries, we can’t afford childcare and we certainly can’t afford rent in this area.”
After working at UW for an amount of time, classified staff stop being able to get a raise from processes other than those agreed upon in contracts, according to Jeffrey. Once employees reach that point, they “get no more raises—ever,” Jeffrey said. “You have to petition for a raise. So, the only raises these folks get are these [Cost-of-Living Adjustments] when they renew their contract. And if they’re getting zero, that means they are getting a pay cut.”
Cost-of-Living Adjustments, or COLAs, adjust to inflation. The next will be announced in October 2026.
The average salary for academic counselors at UW Tacoma in 2025 was about $60,000, according to numbers from Washington State Fiscal Information.
UW and SEIU 925 may continue bargaining or file for mediation.
“Our next steps involve going back to the bargaining table with members doing actions to try and get some gains that members feel are adequate and something they can agree with is enough,” Siewert said in an email.
“The UW remains committed to bargaining in good faith. Because the employer presented a last, best and final offer that was rejected, we will be filing for mediation,” Balta said.
