The Budget Information Forum on April 2 and other recent communications from UW’s leadership about budgetary reductions have understandably created worry and fear for job security within our community. We recognize that this is a challenging time, and the uncertainty can be difficult to navigate. When information is lacking, it is natural to fill in the gaps with fears and worst-case scenarios. As we heard in the closing session of the Staff Conference yesterday, uncertainty is a key factor in the “pressure equation” of stress-inducing situations.
The UWSA is actively working with administration to address your concerns and try to reduce some of this uncertainty. We are also always here to support our members. We are committed to:
- Ensuring Policy 18 – Staff Employment is followed for staff in all scenarios, including job loss.
- Offering a workshop about what to expect and how we can support members through job loss.
- Extending internal status by an additional six months for staff terminated due to budgetary restrictions—this has been secured at Staff Relations Committee.
- Recognizing the impact on morale in an environment of job loss.
- Raising awareness among administrators of staff burnout potential and workload issues.
- Continuing to push for more communication and transparency from the administration—and working to increase our own.
We are here to support staff both collectively and individually. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Member Advisory Committee if you require any support. Together, we can navigate these challenges and ensure the policies put in place are followed.
Lisa Habel
UWSA President, 2024–2025
Changes to merit, salary increases, and performance development
The UWSA has been hearing and bringing forward staff concerns with the merit system for years. Any merit-based system is vulnerable to being applied unfairly. Changing to a uniform scale increase for everyone is an important step toward salary equity for staff. This is already in place for this year, and Policy 5 – Salary Administration, University Support Staff is being amended to remove references to the old merit system.
The transition to a new salary increase process is not without flaws, however, and we are working to address these with Human Resources. Newer employees expecting the merit system to bring their salary up to job value may be particularly affected by across-the-board salary increases, and we are investigating these impacts.
We know there are concerns about whether there will be scale increases in the coming years. At the February Area Representatives Council meeting, Vivek said that “it's certainly not to be taken that there would be no salary increase” in the 26–27 or 27–28 fiscal year, just that it “is uncertain at this point as to what that might be” and that any increases will, of course, add to the deficit and slow the budget recovery process.
I'm excited to be part of the Strategic Talent and Performance Framework Advisory Committee, which is meeting regularly over the coming weeks, and I will provide updates on the program as often as I can. The lead on this project has agreed to attend an Area Representatives meeting soon and we’ve been told there will be staff consultation in the coming months.
Our relationship with the university
The UWSA’s relationship with the University, defined in our Memorandum of Agreement, enables us to meet regularly with key leaders such as the university president, vice president finance, and the provost. These meetings are in addition to the formal venues of the Staff Relations Committee and Provost's Advisory Committee on Staff Compensations.
After the budget forum last week, Alyssa Kuron (UWSA president-elect) and I shared with Jacinda Reitsma some of the feedback we heard from staff about the lack of concrete information provided. We are working with area reps to compile your outstanding questions for the administration and hope to publish an FAQ on our website soon.
If you have questions you’d like answered, please send them through your area representative, or submit them to our Suggestion Box.
Upcoming events
My next drop-in time is April 15 at noon. Come by DC 3608 with any questions or suggestions you have.
The next workshop in our personal finance series is on mortgages. Join us for “Home Sweet Home: Financing Your Future” on May 6. A lunch option is available for UWSA members.