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Washington State Legislation Allows Faculty to Unionize
In April Washington governor Gary Locke signed into law a bill allowing faculty at public four-year colleges and universities in the state to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. When signing the bill, Locke deleted a "poison pill" amendment that had been inserted into the Senate version of the legislation. It would have abolished faculty senates if faculty chose to bargain collectively. In a message explaining his deletion, Locke wrote, "The functions of the faculty governance system and collective bargaining are separate and distinct. Faculty governance systems advise the universities on issues pertaining to curriculum development, content of courses, and other issues. . . . Collective bargaining addresses issues such as wages and terms and conditions of employment. Neither system is equipped to fill the role of the other."
Legislation granting Washington teaching assistants in the public sector the right to bargain collectively was passed in March 2001. Most public employees in the state, including public school teachers and community college faculty, have had bargaining rights for decades. Faculty unions, the statewide faculty senate organization, and other faculty groups, including AAUP chapters and the statewide Washington AAUP conference, had been lobbying for years for the extension of those rights to faculty at four-year institutions. A key change, they said, was the support of Richard McCormick, who became president of the University of Washington in 1995.
"His decision to work with faculty on the bill reversed thirty years of administration opposition to legislation enabling collective bargaining. It was a courageous and difficult move," says James Gregory, president of the AAUP chapter at the University of Washington. "In this year of nightmarish budget cuts, we have had little to cheer about. But the legislative session will be remembered as the one that finally fixed the flaw in Washington state law that for so long left faculty without the customary rights enjoyed by other employees."
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