Northwest Center Bargaining Update
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Significant Progress
Over the last two bargaining sessions, we have focused our energy on the right to work remotely, caseloads, and our assignment to different teams.These issues have been at the heart of many proposals, and by collaborating in-person we were able to finally reach a common understanding on the role of Teams. We pushed for team assignments to be listed on job descriptions and confirmed at the time of hire. We know that working in North versus South Seattle impacts where we choose to live and our commute time. These differences are not small and we made significant progress in defining a process for allocating new cases and how people may be assigned to other teams. We also made gains in outlining what is considered remote work and in-person work.
“As an organization that promotes inclusion of people with disabilities, we strongly believe that many positions within our department can function remotely and that should be an option that is promoted and offered to people. This allows our department to continue to diversify in terms of candidates that are outside of Seattle city limits as well as those that may not have the ability to drive and therefore were previously excluded from working with us. We are proud that we are very close to an agreement on remote positions!”-Jenica Barrett, Kimberly Burns, Cassandra Villarreal
Our bargaining team returns to the bargaining table on August 30, where we will present all economics.
We want to say a special thank you to our coworker and Union leader Cassandra Villarreal for all her contributions to our Early Supports Union- and wish her the best in her new career opportunity! Starting in September, we will welcome Kaylee Ainge and Kirsten Syberg, Family Resource Coordinators, to the Union bargaining team.
Please join us on August 28 for a virtual meeting to learn more about health care proposals our team is considering. We will share plan comparisons and want to hear from you about what is most important to you and your family.
