NULWU blog

Our first bargaining session is complete! We came, we saw, we caucused! Yesterday members of the bargaining committee and SEIU representatives met with University representatives on Zoom from 1-5pm.  After introductions, representatives from the University proposed a set of ground rules, or ways the bargaining process will be governed. Our bargaining committee then went into a breakout room to discuss what was presented and decide on any proposed changes to those ground rules. When proposals are presented to one side, the other side goes into a caucus, where they discuss together what was presented and decide on any changes they want to counterpropose. These caucuses continue until all parties agree on the language in the proposal. We were able to agree on several straightforward ground rules, like telling the other side when we are done for the day to ensure one side does not stay in a never-ending caucus. However, one ground rule where we could not agree immediately was about who...

The NULWU bargaining team is ready for our first session with Northwestern next week! It is incredibly exciting to reach this moment, especially because the unionization effort at the Library began two years ago this month. The end goal of this effort is to have a contract in place, and we are finally at the point where we are ready to bargain our first one! A lot has happened since we won our election in December. We’ve asked members about their priorities for our first contract, had several all-union meetings, formed a bargaining team, and met many times to develop our proposals. Who is the bargaining team? We are NULWU members representing non-exempt staff, exempt staff, and librarians across NUL. We represent different workgroups including Access Services, Instruction & Curriculum Support, Preservation, and many more. Every member of the team either volunteered or was nominated by another colleague in the bargaining unit. Our reasons for joining are unique, but what we share i...