The Duck & Cover

November 13, 2026

Elections have consequences, budgets reflect priorities.

GTFF and Administration Reach Tentative Agreement to Avert Strike! After months of negotiations with the UO administration, our union cousin the GTFF has tentatively agreed to a new contract. Like with the SEIU, demonstrating a credible strike threat appears to be essential in contract negotiations. For the GTFF, 87% of GEs participated in the strike authorization vote, with 98% voting yes. Congratulations to the GTFF on their Tentative Agreement! Turning the Blue Wave into Action The election last week resulted in many wins by candidates endorsed by United Academics and AFT-Oregon, including Tina Kotek in the governor’s race, and the…

October 29, 2026

UA Recommendations For The Projected Deficit. GMM This Thursday! Benefits Enrollment. UA Endorsements.

UCUB Report on Alternatives to Academic Cuts is Now Available! Over the last several months, the United Academics Committee on the University Budget (UCUB) has worked to identify alternatives to academic cuts in response to UO’s projected budget deficit. Read the full report. This follows our previous recommendations and provides a deeper dive and specific budget proposals. UA looks forward to partnering with the campus community in these important dialogues about our shared future. Our initial proposals and their associated financial impacts are: Redirect part of the Internal Bank and the Presidential Initiatives Fund earnings to support the core academic mission; up…

October 7, 2026

Caucuses, Bargaining Town Halls, And Other Events

Raises and Benefits If you are on a 9-month contract and your pay is distributed over 12 months, your negotiated raise will show up on your October 31st paycheck. If your pay is distributed over 9 months, your raise should be reflected in your September 30 paycheck. Reach out if something looks amiss. PEBB’s open enrollment in October of this year is particularly critical for all benefits-eligible employees to complete, otherwise, PEBB will drop coverage for employees and their dependents for 2027. Action is required by all benefits-eligible faculty, as this year’s enrollments will not automatically roll over to next year….

June 15, 2026

Ending the year, and preparing for the next

Dear Colleagues, As the end of the academic year wraps up, I hope that everyone is able to look forward to the summer ahead-whatever it might hold for you. While some of us will be off-contract, many UA members are still on campus and we want you to know that UA staff and leaders will be active as well. We will be monitoring the activities of the UO administration over the summer, and are prepared to respond to any layoffs as needed. If you receive a layoff notice, please reach out immediately. We are also preparing for the upcoming…

May 28, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – PRESS RELEASE & MEDIA ADVISORY

MEDIA EVENT DATE: June 2, 9-11AM at Ford Alumni Center (University of Oregon) Contact: Kristy Hammond, UA Staff; Chris Sinclair, UA Secretary Phone: (541) 636-4714 Email: info@uauoregon.org, sinclair@uauoregon.org University of Oregon’s Faculty Union to Address Trustees about Plan for $65m in Cuts and UO Leaders’ “Trust Deficit” On June 2 at 9 am, the UO Board of Trustees will hear comments from campus labor unions regarding President Scholz’s May 14th announcement of a plan to “cut around $65 million from our budget to avoid an ongoing annual budget deficit in the coming years.” In 2025, the UO eliminated 176 positions…

May 6, 2026

Career Instructional Faculty: Equity Raises and an Increased Across-the-board Raise

Equity and Across-the-Board Raises for Career Instructional Faculty Your union finalized a Memorandum of Understanding with the university administration related to the Career instructional faculty equity disbursement that emerged from our last rounds of bargaining. In our most recent negotiation we agreed to create a pool of 2% to address concerns identified through the equity study mandated by our penultimate round of contract bargaining. Through the framework of this study, eleven faculty were identified for equity adjustments. The remaining funds that were not allocated carry over into across-the-board raises for September. We originally negotiated a 3% raise for 2027 for Career instructional faculty,…

March 30, 2026

UA wins in arbitration. Three layoffs rescinded

UA Wins in Arbitration! We received some very good news on Friday, March 20. Your union was successful in the arbitration case we brought against the University for laying off two librarians at the beginning of the academic year. The arbitrator ruled in United Academics’ favor, agreeing that university administrators did not properly consider the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s seniority considerations when the librarians were terminated, and thus mandating the immediate rescission of the layoffs. In plain English: UA fought back and won. The librarians have their jobs back. Our contract contains what is known as a “sufficient abilities” clause. This…

February 25, 2026

Executive Council Election Nominations Now Open

UA Elections! We have elections for six officer positions beginning the first quarter of 2026. All members in good standing are eligible to serve as officers and nominate other members in good standing. Self-nominations are also permitted. If you’re interested in running, our current board members are happy to talk to you and answer your questions. As always, you can contact UA staff with any questions at info@uauoregon.org. Open positions: This year’s Executive Council positions are now open. The Executive Council (EC) is the primary leadership body of United Academics with a focus on initiating, overseeing, or revising the program of the union. The…

February 5, 2026

Unit Policies, ICE Watch Training, Membership Meeting this Thursday

UO Campus PIRC Migra (ICE) Watch Training Wednesday, Feb 11th, 5:00-7:00pm On campus, location provided after registration Registration link coming soon, complete this interest form to receive the registration link once it’s available! Join us for an IN-PERSON Migra (ICE) Watch training on Wednesday, February 11th from 5-7pm! The training is two hours and attendees will have the opportunity to join the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC) Rapid Response network at the end of the training (must complete full training). This training provides information on how to identify ICE and other law enforcement out in the community, guidance for how…

January 29, 2026

What you can do to help protect our community

As our country and community continue to be terrorized by ICE, many of our members are looking for ways we can protect ourselves and our neighbors. We face unprecedented times having to teach with the possibility that ICE may come to campus in pursuit of people to detain and possibly deport. Many of our students and faculty are scared, and there has been demand for information about what to do if we face ICE personnel while we are teaching or holding office hours. The UA International and Immigration Working Group has created several resources for members to use and share. Download signs…

September 28, 2023

Holvey Recall

As many of you know, UFCW Local 555 has launched an effort to recall State Representative Paul Holvey. Holvey has represented District 8, which includes most of south Eugene, in the Oregon legislature for the past 18 years. We believe this recall effort is misguided. Representative Holvey’s record has been exemplary in support of workers, consumers, and small businesses. He is a former union carpenter with deep roots in the labor movement and has a solid track record of improving the lives of working Oregonians. He has consistently supported increased funding for education at all levels. This recall effort stems…

February 20, 2023

Solidarity with UA Student Workers

University of Oregon United Academics supports UO Student Workers’ unionization efforts and stands in solidarity with workers’ struggle to improve working conditions on campus. Additionally, UOUA condemns the ongoing anti-union and union busting behavior of the University of Oregon, including but not limited to: Threatening student workers’ jobs or rights to organize. Discouraging or banning discussion of UOSW’s unionization efforts during work time (when other non-work related discussions are permitted). Discouraging or banning students from card-signing in campus spaces and workplaces while off-the-clock. The removal of protected union posters and materials from work-neutral spaces. The discriminatory banning of union pins…

June 29, 2022

Balancing Work and Caregiving: A Best Practices Teach-In Summary

Throughout 2021-2022, United Academics and members from the CSWS Caregiver Campaign continued their collaborative efforts to push the University of Oregon administration to address issues of equity and inclusion for UO faculty struggling to balance the demands of caregiving while fulfilling their employment expectations. On April 27, we hosted a joint zoom teach-in with 43 attendees. The contents of this report lay out the scope of the issues but also provide hands-on practical strategies to address challenges that have existed long before the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a video recording of the Teach-In available on the CSWS website, as well…

September 13, 2021

COVID Planning: The Work Continues

Dear colleagues, Many of you have read the petition sent by CSWS recently to the Office of the Provost. UAUO fully agrees with the concerns Professors Escallón, McKinley, and Stephen articulated, and we are also in full support of their ask that “caregivers of unvaccinated children (children under 12) can continue to teach and attend meetings [remotely] at least until their family members receive the vaccine.” We’ve also heard from faculty whose health puts them at serious risk by being in-person, yet they cannot qualify for ADA accommodations. And for those of us who are able to come back to campus, we…

June 28, 2021

UAUO Protest Pollack-Pelzner Linfield University

Recently the President of Linfield University, Miles K. Davis, summarily fired Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a Shakespeare scholar who had held an endowed chair in the Department of English and had represented the faculty as a member of the Board of Trustees. According to the university administration, Pollack-Pelzner was terminated for reasons unrelated to his achievements as a teacher, researcher, or publishing scholar. Rather, the administration states that he was sacked because he had “engaged in conduct that is harmful to the university,” specifically that he had “violated instructions to preserve the attorney-client privilege” and that he had “circulated false statements…

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