Following direct action taken on Dec. 6 by WSU academic student employees, WSU-CASE and WSU’s administrative bargaining team have moved forward with efforts to ratify a fair contract by Dec. 15.
WSU-CASE’s direct action on Dec. 6 came in the form of a staged sit-in at Chancellor Elizabeth Chilton’s office to demand the ratification of a fair contract. Following the sit-in, Chilton seems to have taken a more direct role with the University’s bargaining team, said CASE member Gavin Doyle.
The sit-in also resulted in an additional two and a half days of bargaining for CASE. Initially, the last scheduled day of barging was to take place on Dec. 11, but due to the action taken by CASE, Dec. 6 became a barging day. A full day of bargaining was added to the schedule for Dec. 13, while a half-day was added for Dec. 15, the day CASE demanded contract ratification.
“Chancellor Chilton says that she’s committing to personally attending some of these meetings in her role as Vice Provost and Vice President, and other executive leadership might attend some of these meetings. There was this promise that Chilton would get on the phone and speak with the President,” Doyle said. “We’re hoping that their presence might hold WSU’s bargaining team more accountable.”
Doyle said since the demonstration on the 6, there has been a change in rhetoric from the University. The University’s bargaining team and CASE are still making movements on key points such as job titles, work environment, and anti-discrimination practices.
If a fair contract is not ratified by Dec. 15, CASE is prepared to strike, following the passing of a strike authorization vote in November, although the action is not promised.
“If it comes down to Dec. 15, and we still have too many items on the table, I do think certain decisions will have to be discussed, and certainly with the action that we did take on the sixth, and a continuum of action we will be putting together, I could see the possibility [of a strike],” Doyle said.
