The Duck & Cover

July 16, 2024

Bargaining update for July 2, 2024

Bargaining update for July 2, 2024 We hope that everyone is enjoying their summer, whatever that may entail for you and yours. Though there is a bit of a lull on campus, your bargaining team will continue to meet with the administration throughout the summer. Please remain engaged to help us secure a dignified contract. Attend sessions when able! Thank you for your presence in the room, showing the united support of our faculty, even in the summer months. Our next session is on Monday, July 15 from 12:30-3:30 pm in Lilis 440 [a different location than usual].We met with…

July 1, 2024

Title IX changes, bargaining tomorrow, and political survey

BargainingJoin us tomorrow, Tuesday, July 2, for our first bargaining session of the summer. We’ll meet in Chiles 125 from 1:30-4:30pm. If you can’t make it in person, Zoom in here. Please note the change in timing from our usual schedule.Will the administration team bring a counterproposal on Article 26: Salary? Only one way to find out! Your team will bring counters that touch on Career faculty job security, pro tem employment, unit policies, and leaves.Let’s keep up the momentum we built during the academic year! And make sure your calendar is marked for these upcoming sessions: Monday, July 15…

June 26, 2024

Bargaining Update for June 13, 2024

Your bargaining team recently met with the administration on June 13th. Thank you to everyone who turned out! It was a lively time. There was even an impromptu singalong of union solidarity songs courtesy of UA’s Vice President of Diversity & Equity, Ed Wolf of SOMD. Enthusiastic members filled the bargaining room and showed up on Zoom. We estimate that 150 faculty members showed up at some point. Your presence was felt by the administration team as well as your bargaining team! As a reminder, we will be having bargaining sessions throughout the summer, so please consider joining in person if…

June 12, 2024

Come to bargaining and help avert a strike!

Our last bargaining session of the term is Thursday, June 13, 12:30-3:30 in Chiles 125 (and via Zoom). We need a big turnout to help us avert a strike. This will be our tenth session and we continue to make good progress on many of our non-economic proposals (currently 7 articles have been tentatively agreed upon and a few more are almost there). However, the administration’s refusal to make significant movement on our economic provisions does not bode well for the future. We will present our counter to Article 26 (Salary) on Thursday and want to engage the administration on…

June 4, 2024

The S Word

Strike? If you have been following bargaining, you know that we are likely headed towards a strike. While we have made progress on many non-economic articles, the administration is steadfast in their refusal to offer raises remotely close to what is necessary to address inflation and maintain parity with our AAU comparators.A strike cannot happen overnight; there are legally imposed timelines, and a number of additional bargaining sessions required before we get to that point (think mid-Fall at the earliest). There also will not be a strike without a vote of the UA membership. If we strike, this will be…

May 29, 2024

Are we headed towards a strike? Actions to take now!

Strike Next Year? While we are making good progress on non-economic articles at the bargaining table, the administration has made only minor movements towards our salary needs. Soon we will send another message about the very real possibility of a strike next academic year. Many steps must be taken before such an action can happen, but the raises on offer from the administration are nowhere near enough to fight inflation and keep us up with our peers. Keep an eye on your inbox for more messaging around potential strike preparations, and what United Academics members will need to do to…

May 24, 2024

Defending Your Rights, Caregiving Fund, and the Spring Picnic

Come celebrate the academic year with your UA friends, old and new!On Thursday, May 30, we’re having our annual Spring Picnic from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at Alton Baker Park Shelter #2. Bring your family out for a day in the park and celebrate with colleagues, some food, and some fun. The details:When: Thursday, May 30, from 4 to 7 pmWhere: Alton Baker Park Shelter #2What to bring: You, family members, colleagues, and friendly dogs!We’ll provide snacks, beverages (alcoholic and non-), and a few lawn games. So, mark your calendars for the United Academics Spring Picnic! We look forward to seeing…

May 21, 2024

Bargaining update for May 16, 2024

Bargaining update for May 16, 2024 Your bargaining team met with the administration last Thursday and presented several counters (Articles 4, 9, 11, 12, 16, and Distinguished Teaching Professor) as did the administration (Articles 6, 13, 15, and 26). Please see our bargaining webpage to examine the details of each proposal.We are excited to be making good progress on a number of important issues, including grievance and review processes. We have also managed to derail the administration’s attempt to claw back important provisions related to joint labor management (union releases and information requests) and the ability to refuse scab labor. …

May 14, 2024

Salary response from admin? Come to bargaining on Thursday!

Bargaining update for May 2 The administration has been slow to respond to our salary proposal, but we hope to see their response on Thursday. Come to bargaining from 12:45-3:30 in Chiles 125 (or Zoom) and help support your bargaining team. As a reminder to members, our salary proposal is based on an economic analysis of faculty salaries, comparator institutions and economic data about inflation; our bargaining strategy is not to bicker back and forth until we meet in the middle, but to say “this is what we the faculty need to be excellent” and to stand by that proposal. In…

May 7, 2024

Know Your Rights as Faculty

Know Your Rights as Faculty: Protest, Free Speech, and Academic Freedom Over the last few weeks, we have seen a wave of student protests on campuses across the country against U.S. support for the war on Gaza. Many faculty at these universities have acted in solidarity with student protesters, either through public speaking, addressing the topic in their classes, signing petitions, contributing resources to encampments, joining the camps, interposing themselves between police and students, and in a few cases being arrested with students when camps have been swept by police. Increasingly, these protest encampments are being met with a militarized…

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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