Bargaining 101

As workers and union members, we have the right to talk to each other at work about:

✅Working Conditions: things like wages, hours, benefits, and things that impact your day to day

✅Safety Concerns: including staffing ratios, unsafe buildings, and more

✅Union Activities: these rights, contract negotiations, and any other subjects of our contract

We have a right to that without:

❌ Supervisor Discipline

❌ Threats from management

❌ Discipline or investigation

You should not be disciplined, retaliated against, or treated negatively for participating in any of these legally protected activities as long as you continue to perform your assigned duties and student supervision is not impacted.

🚨Bottom Line: if you are concerned that your rights are being infringed upon, contact union leadership immediately! We won't tolerate our colleagues being subject to illegal gag orders or intimidation tactics and our employers knows that (just check out the flyer they put out with us this year).

To Sidebar is just to have a confidential discussion - similar to when we go off to caucus, but we do it together rather than separately. 

TA stands for "Tentative Agreement" and is when both parties come to an agreement about something and give it an initial (and literal) sign off. Consider it on the "done for now" shelf until the contract goes to membership to formally vote on.

June 2026 marks the end of our current contract with the ESD so it's important for folks to understand what it means (and what it doesn't mean) to be "working without a contract". 

❌ The ESD cannot suddenly make unilateral changes to our working conditions, wages, or benefits

❌ The ESD cannot suddenly fire you unjustly

✅ We are still protected from unjustified firings and discipline and protected by just-cause procedures

✅ We are still both required to bargain in good faith

The most notable concern for many of our staff is that the usual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) and step increase we usually receive effective in July will not occur yet. Those will only become effective once the contract is ratified and we will insist that everyone receives that pay retroactively. 

We know the strain our colleagues are already feeling, which is why we will continue to fight for a wage package that's worth the wait. In the meantime, the best thing you can do is to continue showing up and letting the ESD know that respect requires a living wage.

Ground Rules are a common bargaining practices meant to set standards for both parties further defining "bargaining in good faith" beyond how it is defined in law. Beyond your normal group norm setting you might have done in teams, these ground rules carry the heft of a potential Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) complaint if violated. 

Bottom line- if the ESD doesn't bargain in good faith with us, we won't let it slide.