Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to all of our new Augsburg Staff Union colleagues! We invite everyone to the weekly Union Staff Lunch in Murphy Square every Wednesday at noon (in case of rain or bad weather, we meet in the cafeteria). Bring your lunch, get to know your colleagues, and hear updates about the union.
Today at 1pm we are excited to return to the bargaining table. The bargaining team is prepared to continue negotiating issues currently in-progress: an internal hire policy and grievance procedure.
Our last bargaining session was a month ago, on June 15th. On top of the administration’s lack of preparation for bargaining, refusal to pay the staff negotiation team during bargaining sessions, and non-collaborative approach in bargaining–the infrequent bargaining schedule is a clear indicator of the administration’s strategy to delay bargaining for a contract with Augsburg values.
We, the staff, are not benefiting from the administration’s anti-union strategy. We must negotiate more frequently. We are ready to collaborate on the pressing issues of low wages, high turnover, expensive healthcare, and improving Augsburg for all. The high turnover rate is still a big problem for Augsburg. We are losing talented staff, their skills and knowledge are no longer contributing to making Augsburg an excellent place to work and learn.
We have made a small amount of progress on a few proposals, which is not to be discounted. Check out the progress so far on our Proposal Tracker.
The importance of solidarity
To win a strong contract we need everyone’s support, every day.
Show your support:
- use a union Zoom background
- add a statement of support to your email signature: “Proud supporter of the Augsburg Staff Union”
- wear your union button (pick one up at the weekly lunch!)
- talk to your colleagues about why you support the union
We will continue to show up for Augsburg.
We will send an update after the conclusion of today’s bargaining session.