Recall that we negotiated and ratified our 2009-2011 contract (see below). That's the contract that would normally be going into effect in July 2009, but before the legislature approved it the budget crisis came along and the contract was deemed financially infeasible to implement. Negotiations were re-opened and we now have tentative agreement on a new version of this contract. The new version also requires ratification, and it contains real changes from the original, so please look it over.

There will be an information meeting about the new version of the contract on Wednesday July 8th at noon in Communications Facility (CF) room 125. All PTE and BUD bargaining unit members are invited to the meeting, and PSE members will be able to vote on the contract immediately after the meeting, and on the following day at several locations across campus. Watch this space for more details.

Read the summary of changes
Read the original version of this contract
Read the updated versions of the articles that have been changed

Check out the new discussion area in the forum devoted to questions, answers and discussions of everyone's favorite topic these days, budget cuts and layoffs.

Click here: http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/budget/detail/proposals.asp to follow along with the development process of the state budget -- governor, house, senate and conference proposals -- information is added as it becomes available. (The conference proposal is the result of negotiations to reconcile the house and senate proposals. There's a good chance that out of the several proposals it will be the one most like the final actual budget.)

The University Planning and Budgeting Office also has a lot of information about the WWU budget and budget cuts at: http://www.wwu.edu/upb/, including the budget cut proposals from the various divisions and colleges, and this chart summarizing the impact on WWU of the governor, house, senate and conference budget proposals (as they become available).

Click here to to go to the legislative section of our forum, where you can read and discuss the latest news. Among other things, this concerns the October 1st "take it or leave it" deadline that currently limits how effectively we can bargain. Also, bullying and representation on the board of trustees.