The Duck & Cover

November 8, 2023

A plea for concrete actions in response to IDEAL Climate Survey and Admin Rollout

In the Spring of 2023, the United Academics’ Caucuses sent a collective letter to the upper administration detailing issues with the IDEAL Campus Climate Survey response. We received a short reply saying they will report on all the work they have completed and recognized they need to communicate their efforts better. On October 13, 2023, we sent a follow-up email reminding now President Scholz and Interim Provost Woodruff-Borden, and while they did reply, we still await a response to our specific suggestions to improve our poor campus climate: Establish a formal office to deal with intersectional inequities and discrimination. Create…

November 6, 2023

Conversations with GEs, caucus meetings, and bargaining listening sessions

On Conversations with GEs in the run-up to a potential GTFF strike Several faculty members have asked us what conversations they may and may not have with graduate employees during (and in the run up to) a strike. Individual GEs may want to talk with you about the strike and how you can help avoid or end it. Some have suggested that these types of conversations are illegal. We have talked with our labor attorney, and we believe this suggestion is incorrect. Supervisors are not allowed to engage their employees in contract negotiations; the negotiations take place at the bargaining…

October 26, 2023

A GTFF strike? Read more to understand why.

Why are our grads thinking about striking? In the last year graduate students around the country have gone on strike, resulting in significant wage increases, among other wins. These wins, together with an inflationary economy and increasing support for unions from the public, have not only driven graduate unions towards more strident labor actions, but have also reset expectations around compensation and benefits for graduate employees nationwide-check out the GTFF’s masterful analysis of grad wages at peer institutions. Examples from other institutions: At Rutgers, striking graduate workers won raises, bringing their salary up from around $30,000 in the first year…

October 19, 2023

Concerns about pay, reimbursements, and stipends.

United Academics leadership has been made aware of many pay-related issues faculty have experienced over the last several months and has pushed the administration to resolve these issues quickly. We have also begun conversations about how the administration can ensure these concerns are not ongoing, and how research-related impacts, in particular, will be accounted for. In a recent meeting, administration representatives requested specific examples of these issues to investigate where the breakdowns are happening. If you are willing to self-report any pay issues you have experienced, please fill out this short form. We will pass these along to administration, so only…

September 28, 2023

A new academic year together!

Greetings, my excellent colleagues! It is a delight to begin a new academic year together with you at the University of Oregon. Meeting our new university president, greeting newly arrived colleagues at new faculty orientation, helping new students move into dorms with Unpack the Quack, tabling at Friday night’s Flock Party at Hayward Field, and teaching my first class session of the year have been incredibly energizing and restorative. College is such a magical, transformative time in the lives of our students, and it’s wonderful to be a part of that. This year will have more than its share of…

September 26, 2023

Pre-bargaining Listening Sessions

Dear Colleagues: As you may already know, we are entering a bargaining year for our union. To include your voices and ideas on issues that concern you, we are holding listening sessions every Friday at 9 am and 4 pm on Zoom. We are also happy to schedule in-person meetings with faculty in your department who may want to discuss matters together. Please reach out to your steward or Representative Assembly member if you would like to schedule a meeting for your department. If you do not have a steward or representative, feel free to reach out to me directly….

August 25, 2023

Preparing for the possibility of a Graduate Employee strike

Dear Colleagues, As many of you know, the Office of the Provost is asking units to prepare for the possibility of a Graduate Employee (GE) strike as part of an “Academic Continuity Plan.” To help you with planning, this email provides some information concerning the expectations and obligations of faculty members should a strike occur. Our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) obliges faculty to consult with the University, if requested, concerning how work performed by a striking employee will be covered. However, nothing in the CBA requires faculty to cover for striking workers. Faculty are only required to consult on how…

June 15, 2023

Academic Freedom Concerns

We’re concerned about academic freedom. Union members have identified a number of priorities for our upcoming round of bargaining starting next January. Issues of academic freedom are our second highest priority, trailing only salaries as the top concern. We’ve identified the need to remain vigilant to ensure that the growing national trend to undermine tenure protections, dictate suitable research and teaching topics, and pack governing boards with extremist political agendas does not happen here in Oregon. We’re aware of the threat in Oregon. No state is immune from the current political upheavals. Although Florida and Texas have made the most…

May 19, 2023

Faculty Concerns Over Climate Survey Phase 2

Dear Interim President Moffitt and Interim Provost Woodruff-Borden, We, the United Academics Faculty of Color, Working Families, and Pride Caucuses, are writing to address the IDEAL climate survey and the steps taken in response to it. We are concerned with the approach taken to date, particularly with the messaging that the bulk of the work will fall to the faculty themselves, who, as noted in the survey, already feel overburdened. We believe some issues are crucial enough that they can’t wait. As you know, on June 4, 2022, faculty received our first communication addressing the results of the survey, which…

April 27, 2023

United Academics Celebrates 10 Years of Salary Increases

This month, United Academics kicks off its celebration of ten years of being union strong! While we’re excited to celebrate the tenth anniversary of our first Collective Bargaining Agreement’s ratification in October 2023, we know there is still work to be done. In the last Collective Bargaining Agreement, we secured 10% raises over the three years of the contract. This included the first year’s across-the-board raise of 5%, a 2% across-the-board raise the following year, and a 3% merit pool to be distributed in January 2024. The ratification vote on our salary package passed with 95% of the vote in…

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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