Dear Colleagues,
We concluded our sixth round of bargaining at noon today.
Today we brought our shared Augsburg Values to the table and made progress in retaining our valuable and talented staff–we reached an understanding regarding the hiring of internal applicants. Some work remains, but the administration’s team has expressed their intent to agree to language that allows for the consideration of internal applicants before job vacancies are posted externally.
We know from our survey that 76% of respondents do not think that there is a clear path to advancement at Augsburg. That’s why we brought forward this contract language, to put into specific practice how internal applicants would have their voices heard.
We’re encouraged that we’re making incremental progress at each session, but the most pressing issues remain untouched. Just take a look at our proposal tracker to see how little their responses have changed on the major issues.
As long as the administration refuses to pay bargaining team members for their time, it’s going to be difficult to find time to meet. In the past four weeks we’ve only met for a day and a half. We could be meeting every week and finishing up this contract in a reasonable amount of time if the administration respected our time as they do their own.
Paying a living wage, offering accessible and affordable healthcare, offering opportunities for advancement, and protecting the dignity and humanity of staff are the way forward for Augsburg’s future. Why stall on these issues?
Have you signed the petition yet?
Add your name–nearly 50% of the staff have so far, plus hundreds of community supporters! We’re asking the administration to act in accordance with Augsburg values while at the bargaining table. Give us meaningful responses to our proposals, pay bargaining team members for their time, and, most importantly, discuss our economic proposals with us.
Join the CAT!
To accommodate everyone’s busy schedules, the weekly Contract Action Team meetings have changed slightly.
We will still meet every week, but will alternate weekly between 12:00 pm and 6:30 pm. Here are the next several weeks with links to register:
- Tuesday, June 15: 6:30 pm
- Tuesday, June 22: 12 pm
- Tuesday, June 29: 6:30 pm
- Tuesday, July 6: 12 pm
To request accommodations for the CAT meetings, please email us at augsburgstaffunion@gmail.com.