General Membership Meeting
April 6, 2017. 5-7pm. Gerlinger lounger. Dinner and drinks provided. Stay tuned for the agenda.
Archives
Vote No on 103
Measure 103 amends the Oregon Constitution to prohibit taxes/fees based on transactions for “groceries” enacted or amended after September 2017. While this sounds promising, the measure would set a dangerous precedent on other kinds of taxes that the state could initiate in the future. The measure, as written, is vague at best, purposefully confusing at worst. Given that there are no taxes on groceries, and Oregonians have clearly rejected consumer sales tax measures in the past, why bring forth this measure now? Clearly, it’s a preemptive measure, but not one meant to protect consumers. Given that the American Beverage Association…
Vote No on 104
Measure 104 is a prescription for endless budget crisis and legislative gridlock in Salem. Since the passage of Measure 5 by Oregon voters in 1990 Oregon has required a 60% majority in its legislature to pass any tax bills. Measure 104 radically expands this so that a 60% supermajority would be required to pass ANY bill that could increase state revenue. No fee could be increased, no tax loophole could be closed, literally nothing could be done to increase state revenues without a supermajority. There would be little hope of ending the regular Oregon ritual of schools, universities, health care…
Vote No on 105
I am voting NO vote on Measure 105 in support of the health and safety of my community 105 is a divisive anti-immigrant measure that local law enforcement veterans say would keep them from effectively doing their job to ensure public safety. The measure would repeal the bipartisan sanctuary state law that we passed in 1987 forbidding the use of state resources to do the work of federal immigration authorities. In the years leading up to the passage of the 1987 law, racial profiling of Oregon residents was known to be commonplace throughout the state, resulting in a profound lack…
Vote No on Measure 106
If you believe that all Oregonians should have equal access to the full range of reproductive health care, vote No on Measure 106. Measure 106 limits access to safe and affordable abortions. One of the arguments being used to justify this measure is economic, but even though limiting women’s access to affordable abortions will not save the insurance system money, it might easily push some vulnerable families into poverty. The measure is regressive and punitive in that those families with the fewest financial resources will be the most affected. Moreover, by placing limits on publicly-funded insurance, including plans offered by…
A Sour Note
While there is great anticipation for the coming academic year, there is also one sour note. Over the summer, the Office of the Provost ruled that faculty can be transferred within the institution at any time, for any reason. Essentially, you can be sent to work in Eugene, Portland, Charleston, or any other place the administration can call a university location. You can, of course, also be transferred back or somewhere else. The Provost’s Office believes that you have no right or say in where you work. This is especially frustrating because all the faculty spent countless hours over the…
Welcome new women faculty to campus!
The Center for the Study of Women in Society and the Office of the Provost invite you to a reception to welcome new women faculty to campus. New and current faculty at the University of Oregon are invited to attend to welcome new women faculty to campus, to learn about one another’s research and work, and to inspire collaboration, community, and support across campus. Don’t forget to bring your colleagues with you! While this event is titled as a reception for new women faculty, CSWS welcomes everyone on campus whose scholarship deconstructs and reconstructs approaches to gender, and we invite…
General Membership Meetings
United Academics will be bargaining out next Collective Bargaining Agreement in the 2019 academics year. We will be using the 2018-19 academic year to formulate bargaining planks. General Membership Meetings are a great opportunity to meet with other faculty and talk about what is and is not working at the University of Oregon, and to help inform bargaining conversations. 2018-19 General Membership Meeting Dates Thursday, September 27, 2018, from 5-7 in Gerlinger Lounge Thursday, January 10, 2019 Thursday, April 4, 2019
Update from the BVWU
Community support has been critical to our successive wins these last several months, and without you behind us at every step, Burgerville Workers Union would not have been able to accomplish all that we have. Since we filed for elections with the NLRB and won with overwhelming majorities at 2 locations this spring, we’ve been engaged in negotiations with Burgerville for our first contract. Negotiations have been tough as Burgerville has met even our simplest proposals with resistance, but we’re more determined than ever to continue putting pressure on the company to do right by their workers. While Burgerville promised…
The Janus decision and United Academics
Earlier this morning, the Supreme Court ruled on the Janus v. AFSCME case, deciding that public employee unions cannot collect “fair share” fees from people who have not joined the union as full members. These fees have, historically, been considered both constitutional and necessary to avoid the problem of “free-riding” by people who receive the benefits of the collective bargaining agreement, but do not voluntarily contribute to the costs of bargaining and maintaining the contract. As of today, public employees who have not signed union cards will still be represented by their union, but will not contribute to keeping their union stable…
English Department Formally Asks Provost’s Office to Improve Working Conditions for Career Faculty
On June 11 the English Department presented Provost Jayanth Banavar and Exec. Vice Provost Scott Pratt a comprehensive proposal for improved salary and working conditions for the career faculty in the Composition Program. This presentation arose after English devoted their entire April department meeting to deliver the same requests to the three Deans of the College of Arts & Sciences (Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences Andrew Marcus, Divisional Dean of Humanities Karen Ford, and Dean of Faculty Operations Bruce Blonigen). In both meetings, TTF and Career Faculty spoke together to address longstanding problems concerning salary, course load, contracts, and…