This recap details the eighth sessions for the negotiation of the third collective bargaining agreement between the University of Washington (UW) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) for KUOW. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.
\nTentative Agreements<\/p>\n
The parties tentatively agreed to the following current contract language provisions:<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer\u2019s proposal, the Union proposed adding that modified weekly schedules would only be at the employees\u2019 request in advance of the workweek and only for that workweek. In this proposal, all temporary modified weekly schedules would be need acknowledgement in writing.<\/p>\n
In this package proposal, the Union proposed accepting the Employer proposal on January 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer\u2019s proposal, the Union proposed 4% salary range minimum increases per year, down from 4.5%.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer\u2019s proposal, the Union proposed 4% across the board per year, down from 4.5%.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer, the Union reasserted its proposal that should additional sources of money become available, the parties would meet to distribute the funds.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer, the Union reasserted its proposal that employees would receive a temporary pay increase of at least 5% when temporarily assigned additional or higher level duties.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer, the Union proposed that Supervising Producers would be included in eligible job profiles to receive Temporary Assignment one-time payments. Additionally, the Union proposed striking that Podcast Hosts, for every fifth episode, would qualify for this one-time payment.<\/p>\n
Since the Union proposed removing the Podcast Host from the eligible positions in section 39.9, the Union proposed a new section 39.10 Podcast Host Duties Add-On Payment. In this proposal, regular, full-time employees could be assigned as Podcast Hosts monthly. For each month assigned Podcast Host duties, the individual would receive $1500.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer\u2019s proposal, the Union proposed aligning the minimum monthly wage for the Newscaster\/Reporter job profile to that of the Host job profile. In addition, the Union proposed making the Newscaster\/Reporter job profile an exempt classification. Finally, the Union proposed to expand the Digital Editor\/Reporter series so that there would be an additional Digital Editor\/Reporter 3 job profile.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer\u2019s proposal, the Union proposed $100 for every workweek within they are assigned Host Voiced Advertisements down from $150.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer\u2019s proposed new Job Specifications the Union proposed edits.<\/p>\n
In this package proposal, the Union proposed accepting the following Employer proposals from January 13, 2026:<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer\u2019s proposal, the Union proposed that the following articles would also apply to represented temporary employees:<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer, the Union proposed striking that Compensation could approve extensions for temporary hourly employees. Additionally, the Union proposed new language stating that temporary positions could only be created or filled when the following conditions were met: recruiting to fill a vacant position with a permanent position; filling positions when a worker is on a leave of absence; staffing a short-term project; or maintaining a roster of on-call, fill-in Announcers.<\/p>\n
In response to the Employer, the Union proposed that temporary hourly, fill-in employees could receive daily overtime in addition to weekly overtime. Additionally, the Union proposed that these employees could receive Short Turnaround as described in Article 10 \u2013 Rest Between Shifts.<\/p>\n
In response the Employer, the Union proposed that a temporary hourly, fill-in employee\u2019s time spent in the same job would have the entirety of that time count towards their probationary period if they were hired into a permanent position without a break in service. Additionally, the Union proposed that if the employee\u2019s work becomes ongoing and permanent in nature, the Employer would be required to fill the position on a permanent basis.<\/p>\n
The Union also proposed that temporary positions could not be created to do the work of an employee who had been laid off and these positions could not displace regular employees or positions.<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s proposal, the Employer reasserted its initial proposal from November 4, 2025.<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s proposal, the Employer reasserted its proposed language edit from December 9, 2025.<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s concerns, the Employer proposed a new section that states a temporary layoffs, if necessary, would be performed in accordance with University Policy and would not follow the same notice period as outlined in Article 30.3.<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s proposal, the Employer reasserted its rejection of this new article.<\/p>\n
In this package proposal, the Employer proposed accepting the following Employer proposals from January 13, 2026:<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s proposal, the Employer proposed that the following articles would also apply to represented temporary employees:<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s proposal, the Employer reasserted that Compensation would be involved in approving temporary hourly employee duration extensions. Additionally, the Employer proposed that a temporary position could be made for assignments of limited duration such as: a short-term project; providing training to a newly hired employee; coverage for a regular employee on a leave of absence; assistance during peak workload periods; interim coverage during a recruitment; or other temporary assignments.<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s proposal, the Employer reasserted its initial proposal regarding a maximum of 3-months applying to the 6-month probationary period if a temporary employee moves into a permanent position. The Employer also proposed that it could convert a represented temporary position into a permanent position.<\/p>\n
In response to the Union\u2019s proposal, the Employer did not agree to include the Union\u2019s language limiting the creation of temporary positions.<\/p>\n
The next UW and SAG-AFTRA bargaining session is scheduled for January 26, 2026 and will be held in person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Background This recap details the eighth sessions for the negotiation of the third collective bargaining agreement between the University of Washington (UW) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-negotiation-update","union-sag-aftra","duration-2026-2029"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n