Bargaining Committee Elections Announcement
Nominations for the WAWU Bargaining Committee are now open. Accept your nomination (here) before the deadline on Monday, Sept 18th!
Western Academic Workers United (WAWU) will soon start bargaining with the WWU Administration for better wages and working conditions.
The Bargaining Committee is the elected group of union members that leads our union in negotiations for a contract with Western’s central administration. In WAWU, bargaining is not a process that occurs between two lawyers behind closed doors, it’s a participatory process with hundreds of members weighing in on priorities, attending negotiations, and having democratic conversations about our demands and strategies. The Bargaining Committee (BC) leads that process, translating community input into concrete proposals, sending updates from the negotiations, and making the process accessible to everyone. BC members will get training and support from experienced union negotiators, and will constantly be backed up by the membership of the union. During the height of bargaining, it’s a serious time commitment, and requires an on-campus presence. Being on the BC will be an opportunity to help make history as we negotiate a historic first contract at Western!
We know it’s a busy time, but — all you have to do to run right now is accept your nomination using this form! The Elections Committee will verify your eligibility and get back to you to confirm you’re in the running. Nominations will remain open until 11:59 PM on Monday September 18th. Accepted Nominations will be posted at wawu-union.org/elections and elections for contested positions will be held on Thursday and Friday, Sept 21-22.
To learn more about the bargaining committee and all of the rules and details about the election process, please see below.
Election Timeline
Open Positions
The BC is holding elections to fill vacancies in the following positions:
- 2 Tutors (or similar jobs)
- 1 Grad Teaching Assistant (or similar job)
- 2 Undergrad Teaching Assistants (or similar job)
- 1 Research Assistant
- 1 Computer Assistant
While all positions are intended to represent the entire membership, each of the position titles is meant to be filled by someone with experience working in the named job title (or one very similar to it), to ensure that the BC represents a broad set of experiences at Western.
These categories are meant to be used as guidelines since not every possible job title is listed. If a candidate’s job title is not included in this list, they should select the category most closely identified with and the elections committee will verify eligibility. Term lengths are 1 year or until the committee member is no longer a student at which point a vacancy election will be held once a member steps down or graduates.
Nominations & Eligibility to Run:
Nomination Period: Tuesday, Sept 12th – Monday, Sept 18th at 11:59 PM
During the nomination period, every member who meets the eligibility criteria will be automatically nominated, and needs to just accept their nomination through this form. Eligibility criteria is as follows: the member has signed an authorization card at the time of accepting nomination, is a current student at Western, has worked in an ESE position within the past 2 years, and is able to have an on campus presence. Once a nomination has been accepted, the elections committee will verify eligibility and candidates will be notified and be publicly listed on the website, updated each day.
Bargaining Committee Position Description
The Bargaining Committee is the elected group of union members that leads our union in negotiations for a contract with Western’s central administration. In WAWU, bargaining is not a process that occurs between two lawyers behind closed doors, it’s a participatory process with hundreds of members (that means you!) weighing in on priorities, attending negotiations, and having democratic conversations about our demands and strategies. The Bargaining Committee (BC) leads that process, translating community input into concrete proposals, sending updates from the negotiations, and making the process accessible to everyone. BC members will get training and support from experienced union negotiators, and will constantly be backed up by the membership of the union. During the height of bargaining, it’s a serious time commitment, and requires an on-campus presence. Being on the BC will be an opportunity to help make history as we negotiate a historic first contract at Western!
Campaign Rules:
Campaign Period: Tuesday, Sept 20th – Wednesday, Sept 21st
For any positions where there are more people running than available slots, there will be time for candidates to campaign. Candidates may start campaigning at any time, and will have until Sept 21st at 11:59 PM to submit a candidate statement and photo. Afterwards, an email will be sent out to all members with everyones’ candidate statements, bios, and photos attached, so everyone has equal access to communicate with the membership. Candidates during this time may table, post flyers, talk to people, text and phone their friends but may not campaign during official union meetings or use union resources including numbers and emails sourced from union lists. Campaigning is a great way to spread awareness about the causes and directions you want to champion as a leader; we believe it’s possible to delineate clear differences with other candidates while also maintaining a comradely spirit as we all work toward the same goal.
Balloting
Election Dates: Thursday, Sept 21st – Friday, Sept 22nd
Voting will be done via email and through OpaVote, a secure digital voting platform. Bargaining committee members will be elected in order of votes received. and are eligible to run if they have signed an authorization card, are a current student at Western, have worked in an ESE position within the past 2 years, and have the ability for an on campus presence. Anyone is eligible to vote under the same conditions with the exception of having an on campus presence and can vote for candidates running for any position.
(all nomination and voting/runoff periods close at 5:00 PM PDT/PST)