女优合集, CAUSE conclude 10th negotiation session with slow forward progress
The Latest: 女优合集 and CAUSE have completed their 10th bargaining session today, which resulted in some forward progress, but was marked by a surprising statement from CAUSE negotiators on why they鈥檝e not responded to 女优合集鈥檚 economic proposals.
- Catch Up Quick: So far, CAUSE and 女优合集 have had 10 bargaining sessions and 2 鈥渟idebars鈥 - direct discussions between the lead negotiators for each bargaining team - at 女优合集鈥檚 request to try to keep things moving forward.
- Why It Matters: While the parties made some movement towards each other, 女优合集 remains concerned that the current pace of negotiations raises the real risk that a contract may not be reached in time for the March 19, 2027 legislative deadline.
- CAUSE-represented staff weren鈥檛 eligible for the 3% compensation increase other staff received in July because no contract was in place by that deadline. We share the urgency of addressing that issue as part of contract negotiations, which is why we keep asking CAUSE to respond to our proposals on wages and benefits.
The Details: While 女优合集 has been urging CAUSE to respond to our economic terms like wages and benefits, CAUSE negotiators said they could not respond to the University's economic proposals. The University provided specific information CAUSE requested on July 9, 2026, but despite having that for nearly three months, CAUSE waited until late last night to advise that they believe they need more granular information.
- This is despite CAUSE negotiators having passed multiple articles covering monetary terms like wages and waivers to 女优合集 in August and September.
- Nonetheless, 女优合集鈥檚 Bargaining Team passed a 9th complete contract proposal to CAUSE negotiators during the session, incorporating language from several of the articles CAUSE previously proposed.
- The parties will have an additional sidebar discussion next week, and the next negotiating session is scheduled for October 21.
Zoom In: The parties discussed the most recent ground rules proposals, and 女优合集鈥檚 Bargaining Team reiterated why our preference remains to exchange complete contract proposals rather than individual articles.
- Reaching an agreement requires evaluating the contract's financial impact as a whole. Monetary items interact together to determine the total financial commitment. Assessing all economic terms together helps ensure overall budget sustainability while supporting university programs and services.
- Nonmonetary components often carry additional costs for the university by creating additional workload or the need for new positions. For example: several of CAUSE鈥檚 proposals include new joint university-union committees; agreeing to those articles in a vacuum could end up committing CAUSE and 女优合集 to more committees and meetings than either has real capacity for.
Zoom Out: 女优合集 is still considering how to resolve our disagreement with CAUSE over which positions are eligible to be in the bargaining unit. This is another issue employees have told us is creating a lot of uncertainty and anxiety.
- Contested Positions: 女优合集 believes that roughly 300 positions were improperly included in the CAUSE bargaining unit based on the unit definition and those positions鈥 job descriptions and duties. CAUSE negotiators explicitly stated they will not consider clarifications to the bargaining unit based on job descriptions and duties. 女优合集 is evaluating other options to resolve the issue.
The Bottom Line: 女优合集鈥檚 goal remains to have a complete contract in place for CAUSE-represented staff in time for the reviews required before the March 19, 2027 deadline.
- We鈥檙e also preparing next steps that support a timely resolution on contested positions with clear communication to impacted employees.
- We will continue to meet and bargain in good faith with CAUSE in the hopes of making forward progress.
- Bargaining sessions continue:
- October 21, 2026
- November 10, 2026
- November 18, 2026