What’s Happening?

What’s happening with HR?

As you may have heard, President Mosby and Highline HR have hired an external consultant to perform a “comprehensive review” of positions and salaries for all Pro Staff at Highline. At the same time, HR has altered position descriptions to have fewer guarantees and moved up everyone’s annual performance reviews from Spring to Winter. To us Pro Staff who are currently the only group of employees on campus without a union, these are all very concerning developments indicating substantial restructuring which may include pay cuts, position transfers, and layoffs.

All this is happening amidst a massive $2.5 million budget cut to Highline’s state revenue, an ongoing crisis over Title II and Title III grants, and federal government shutdown. This year, many other public colleges in Washington have seen substantial layoffs to their exempt pro staff as a result of similar funding cuts, and rumors are already circulating that the statewide situation will only continue to worsen. Rather than involving employees in their decisions managing the crisis, Highline’s administration is conducting a lot of business in back-room conversations behind the scenes. For all HR and President Mosby say they care about collaboration and transparency, we still haven’t gotten clear answers on what’s happening in January and no guarantees on whether job cuts are coming as an outcome of this budget crisis and external compensation review. All of these changes have many Pro Staff worried about the future of their jobs and the sustainability of the college, and it’s increasingly clear that we don’t just need listening sessions to feel heard, we need a real seat at the table – that means collective bargaining.

What’s Next?

A majority of Pro Staff on campus have already committed to being in favor of organizing to ensure equity with other groups on campus, protect our jobs and guarantee that we are not only listened to, but we have a real, democratic say in these major staffing and salary decisions that profoundly affect our lives and the communities we serve. With these incoming budget cuts and concerning developments, it is about time to make our union vision a reality.

President Mosby has announced that he will be conducting a policy forum and “listening session” with Pro Staff on November 18th, together with the unionized workers on campus. Many of us Pro Staff will be attending this forum, and we want management to know we are watching them very closely. I hope you will come so we can all sit together and bring questions of our own to ask the President, and take careful note of how management responds to our concerns about staffing, retention, and pay equity. As of now, 60 Pro Staff have already RSVP’ed, so I hope to see you there, too.

All Call Pro Staff Community Gathering

In response to this President’s Address, we are calling on all Pro Staff (yes, ALL Pro Staff) at Highline to gather after work on November 18th at Mandarin Kitchen in Des Moines! It is so important that you and all of your Pro Staff colleagues are there, so mark your calendar and make sure to invite your coworkers to come with you!

Please RSVP now to ensure that a place and dinner is reserved for you. Family and friends are also welcome! RSVP today!

Group goals: It is almost time to form our union and start applying pressure to management to come to the table and bargain a fair contract that protects our jobs, ensures equity, fairness and safe working conditions for all Pro Staff on campus. It’s going to take all of us to come together in solidarity. We all have friends and close relationships with our coworkers, and that’s what solidarity is made of. Consider 3 people you work with or are willing to get to know, and invite them to the President’s Address and community gathering in the next week!

Remember, you are not alone. Forming this union is all about creating the community of care that Highline is all about. We’re all going through this together, and support is there every step of the way–experienced organizers can accompany you, make a plan and help with setting up these important conversations and building connections all across campus. Reply to this email if you’re wondering how you can help or how to get in touch with other Pro Staff.

It’s going to be a big lift to make this happen, and this union will only work if we all work together. Even if you haven’t before, now is the time to get involved.