Alaska University Staff Form Union, Push for Better Pay

0:00Staff at the University of Alaska just voted to form their own union, called the Coalition of Alaska University Staff for Equity or CAUSE. This covers 2,300 permanent workers across the three main campuses and a dozen community sites. The vote passed with 64% in favor, 1,106 yeses to 610 Nose and it will affiliate with the National United Auto Workers Union. They're pushing for better pay, benefits, transparency and promotions, fair workloads, and more stability amid shaky state and federal funding. The university pushed back, saying a union could cut flexibility and slow responses to money woes, but they made that clear to staff before the vote. Union supporters are pumped, with one researcher calling it an exciting day and ready to bargain right away to boost student services, research, and community support. The officials respect the choice and promise good faith talks under Alaska law. Certification comes April 8th unless challenges pop up and talks could take around 400 days

1:04for a first contract. Current pay and conditions stay the same, but new union folks miss out on a plan 3% raise for next year that not union staff get since. No deals in place yet, though organizers say the school could still make it happen. This builds on last year's grad worker union, who nailed a contract in just 96 days with better pay and job protections. Now CAUs joins over 120,000 UAW higher ed workers nationwide, setting the stage for real changes at Alaska's universities. That's your update from Anchorage News Today, powered by AI, I'm Corey with the story.