TL;DR The final scheduled bargaining session is Thursday, December 5, 12:30-3:30, with the brief United for UO rally at the EMU amphitheater at noon. The administration has still refused to acknowledge the erosion of wages due to inflation and the increase in administrative work being pushed down to faculty. They have steadfastly refused to move our wages to the average of our comparators. This is likely our last opportunity to try to convince the administration that we will not accept real wage cuts, and fair compensation is a much better alternative to the disruption of a potential strike.
Final Bargaining Session
Most of what remains in terms of bargaining has financial implications. When we began bargaining in February, we attempted to convince the administration that ridiculously high-ball and low-ball proposals would not be conducive to resolving this contract in a timely and respectful manner. Your team developed well-founded proposals, based on internal and external data, with the goal of raising faculty salary to the average of our AAU peers and making up ground lost to inflation. At this point, it is clear that the administration does not share that goal. It is up to the faculty to make clear that a business-as-usual approach will not be what brings the process to a close, with a fair and just contract.
On November 21st, we had our nineteenth bargaining session of the year. It was a relatively productive session, partly because there were no proposals with a significant economic impact under discussion. We managed to come to agreement on two articles (Article 12: Facilities and Support and Article 22: Grievances) and furthered discussion on Article 17: Assignment of Professional Responsibilities in which we continue to push for sufficient FTE for Career instructional faculty to engage in professional development and service, and Article 19: Career Faculty Review and Promotion in which we attempt to put into place specific criteria for reclassification from Pro Tem to Career employment. In Article 20:Tenure Review and Promotion, we are close to agreement and hope to finish up talks about timelines and moments when a review clock is stopped. We hope we can come to agreement on these issues promptly.
We are not sure where this will go after the last scheduled bargaining session this Thursday. Either side can call for mediation at the close of this week's session. Given that the administration has made no moves to secure space for any upcoming sessions, it is more than likely that this will be the last opportunity for the public to be present, the last opportunity for the administration's team to present their case to our faculty members.
That is why it is vitally important that faculty attend the session. We know that week 10 is incredibly busy for all of us, but if you and your colleagues are able, please set aside some time to attend on Thursday between 12:30 and 3:30 in the Crater Lake rooms of the EMU. We will hold a rally at 12pm the same day in the EMU amphitheater and at the close of the rally we will march directly to the bargaining session.
Wear your union gear! If you don’t have any yet, we’ll have hats, shirts, buttons and tote bags at the rally and bargaining.
What else you can do:
- Join Hustle. This is a texting app that allows us to quickly communicate with members. We promise not to spam you with texts and you can unsubscribe!
- Join our Member Slack. This is a member message board where you can ask questions about our proposals, our economic analysis, or provide input on what you need to flourish. It is a space for members to join in solidarity, share ideas, and support each other.
- Come to the Sign Making Party on Wednesday, December 4, 4-6pmin the Knight Library Dream Lab.
- Read and share our Bargaining & Strike FAQ.
- Join the Contract Action Team. The CAT works to support the bargaining team by organizing actions, talking to members, and preparing for a potential strike. We will need all the help we can get if we have to go down the road of a strike.
- Become a steward for your department and help us ensure the members in your unit are informed and activated.
- Schedule someone from the Bargaining Team or Executive Council to come and speak to your unit. We have met with many departments across campus to answer questions, hear concerns, and let our colleagues know the status of bargaining and/or potential strike timelines.
Reply to this email with any questions or requests.