The Duck & Cover

June 20, 2025

UA Condemns University’s Misguided Layoffs of Award-Winning Educators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE United Academics of the University of Oregon Condemns University’s Misguided Layoffs of Award-Winning Educators Administration’s decisions raise serious questions about commitment to classroom excellence Eugene, OR – June 20, 2025 – United Academics of the University of Oregon, AAUP/AFT Local 3209, AFL-CIO, strongly condemns the University’s announced faculty layoffs, which target some of our institution’s most accomplished educators and include multiple recipients of prestigious, competitive teaching awards. These decisions not only undermine the quality of education Oregonians deserve but raise troubling questions about the administration’s priorities and motivations, especially at a time when the University of Oregon is…

June 18, 2025

Layoff notices in CAS. Please reach out if you are affected.

Dear Colleagues, As of today, eleven faculty members within CAS have received layoff notices. There will be others forthcoming in other schools in the next few weeks. The University is utilizing the provisions of Article 16. Notices of Appointment of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to do this. The notice period (whether 30, 90 or 365 days) is also regulated by the CBA. We have known for some time that there would be cuts, but it does not make it any easier for affected faculty. We are glad that the administration is offering those with 90-day notice periods the option…

June 6, 2025

Campus Labor Council Demands Shared Financial Governance & Transparency + President’s Town Hall on UO’s Budget Cuts

Dear Colleagues, The public communications of the administration continue to indicate that their plan moving forward is to make pre-emptive layoffs of workers over the summer in preparation for projected budget deficits next year. Career lines, and perhaps even entire programs, have been identified for likely cuts. Meanwhile, the UO is outsourcing labor to low-paid, limited duration roles. We are extremely disappointed that the UO has chosen this “chop from the bottom” path without engaging in authentic deliberation with campus stakeholders like our labor union. Like many of you, we find it difficult to repeatedly be asked to absorb the…

May 28, 2025

Scholz’s difficult decisions and your CBA

Dear Members – It has become clear over the past couple of weeks that the Scholz/Moffit administration is preparing to make “difficult decisions” to reduce costs in response to a more negative picture of the university’s immediate financial situation. In addition to the campus-wide message sent by President Scholz and Provost Long earlier this week, we have heard reports from around campus with concerning implications for students, academic programs, and faculty careers. We have heard your concerns, and we, too, are worried. Amid the doom and gloom, there is some good news. Bargaining unit faculty are protected by the Collective…

May 1, 2025

GMM postponed for May Day events; Show solidarity & don’t narc on striking students

General Membership Meeting Postponed May 1st is International Workers’ Day! Due to scheduling issues on campus, we’re pushing the Spring General Membership Meeting that was to be held that evening back a couple of weeks. The upside is that this will also allow our members to participate in the many other May Day events happening that day, including those organized by the GTFF and PCUN. The General Membership Meeting is now scheduled for May 29. Additional details will be shared soon. Save the date! Support UO Student Workers on Strike The UO Student Workers are on day three of their strike!…

April 28, 2025

Tell admin: Stand up for Higher Education!

A Plea for Active, Public Leadership from UO Administration We encourage members to read this letter, penned by UA’s inaugural President Michael Dreiling, urging UO administrative leadership to publicly and actively join other universities in defending higher education. Sign it here. Senate Meeting Wednesday at 3pm Attend the upcoming UO Senate meeting on Wednesday, 4/30 from 3pm-5pm via zoom (agenda and zoom). President Scholz is expected to share remarks during this meeting, and two resolutions will be considered for a vote: US24/25-20: Protecting Immigrant, International, and Noncitizen UO Community Members and, US24/25-21: Resolution to Establish a Mutual Defense Compact for the Universities of…

April 21, 2025

Sanctuary Union Policy. Executive Council Election Results

The United Academics Executive Council passed the following policy today. Among other things, we will be creating a legal defense fund to assist members for their family members who are targets of unlawful or suspect conduct by the federal government. If you are interested in being on a committee to help formulate policy and administer the fund, please email info@uauoregon.org. UA Sanctuary Policy Regarding Non-citizen & Naturalized Workers Whereas, United Academics (UA) recognizes that non-citizen and naturalized faculty members are indispensable to the scholarly mission of the University of Oregon and vital to maintaining a thriving campus culture; and Whereas,…

April 6, 2025

Contract Ratifies! But the fight for higher ed isn’t over.

Greetings, my excellent colleagues! First of all, I want to express enormous gratitude for our Bargaining Team: Maram Epstein (East Asian Languages and Literatures) Jake Searcy (Data Science) Charlene Liu (Art) Dan Howard (Business) Debbie Green (Religious Studies) Josh Razink (CAMCOR) Keaton Miller (Economics) Nathan Whalen (Romance Languages) Heather Wolford (UA staff) They met, planned, and drafted proposals for months before negotiations started on Feb 1 of last year. Over the following fourteen months they met innumerable times to plan, strategize, and draft (and re-draft, and re-re-draft…) proposals to bring to the table. Anyone who observed the public bargaining sessions knows that our team…

March 31, 2025

An overview of the Tentative Agreement. Next step ratification!

An Overview of the Tentative Agreement We would like to provide a more comprehensive message about the Tentative Agreement to prepare members prior to a vote on ratification. Thank you to the nearly 600 members that tuned in for our emergency meetings (sorry for those folks that couldn’t get into the first one). And of course, to everyone that has showed up consistently over the last 14 months – the Bargaining Team, the Contract Action Team, our Reps and Stewards, and every rank-and-file member that came to bargaining sessions, walked the halls talking to members, and supported us all throughout…

March 28, 2025

Sign up for Your Picket Shift! Come to the Emergency Membership Meeting on Sunday at 6pm.

Sign up for Your Strike Shifts! We need everyone to sign up for their picket shifts now. For members who are not based in Eugene, we have a remote picket line where members can meet a few times weekly by Zoom and help with some of the behind-the-scenes activities necessary to support the strike. Please check out the #remote-strike-planning channel on Slack to connect and lend a hand if you cannot make it to the physical picket line. If you are concerned that you might be targeted because your identity, immigration status, etc, or if you have accessibility concerns that…

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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