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United Academics and the administration reconvened last week to discuss potential salary cuts, the restoration of fall FTE for affected Career faculty, and a plan for expectation of continuing employment for all Career faculty. The bargaining conversations have begun with each side presenting and discussing the principles that inform their thinking on the issues we’re bargaining. Our primary goals are to restore FTE for those who were renewed with low FTE in the spring and to institute an expectation of continued employment that would eliminate the administration’s ability to dramatically change career faculty FTE year to year. We have also…

Dear Colleague, The United Academics bargaining team met with the administration bargaining team for four hours on Friday, June 26, to begin our summer bargaining sessions. In these sessions we are attempting to find agreement on restoring FTE for Career faculty who had their FTE cut in May, a fair salary cut plan to address anticipated deficits, fixing the broken Career contract system, and a better retirement/buyout plan for our tenured faculty. This first session was designed to have the parties discuss principles as we attempt to solve our mutual problems. Our team presented some basic bullet points and we discussed how…

On Friday, June 26, from 1-5 pm, the United Academics bargaining team will begin conversations with the administration bargaining team about restoring the FTE of Career faculty scheduled to work reduced FTE next year, fixing our broken system of employing Career faculty, revising our current TTF tenure reduction/retirement program, and determining what a fair and equitable salary cut plan might look like if one is needed. This bargaining session will be on Zoom. Your video and audio will be muted, and the chat feature will be disabled. Neither party has bargained remotely before, so your patience will be appreciated if…

The survey, spearheaded by Professor Melissa Graboyes, has concluded. Dr. Graboyes shares the data and main conclusions in her Executive Summary and Survey Results (including comments). The main takeaways (cribbed directly from https://www.coronaviruschronicles.com/uo-survey) are: 1. There are wide differences in opinion between undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and faculty about whether it is wise to return to in-person instruction in Fall Term, their level of concern about the health risks, and their levels of trust in the University administration to act in their best interest and the best interest of the university community. Overall, undergraduates are more enthusiastic about an in-person Fall Term and less concerned about…

United Academics held a virtual Town Hall on Monday, June 8, 2020. A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page is posted here on the United Academics webpage. The FAQ responds to the dozens of questions we received during the meeting and over the last several weeks. If you don’t see answers to your questions there, drop us a line at [email protected]. We will continue to update the FAQ as new issues arise or information becomes available.

An urgent request from our friends at the Center for the Study of Women in Society. Our union leadership is talking about the best way to address these crucial issues. Dear Colleagues: We are writing with an urgent request to university leadership, the United Academics, and the UO Senate, deans, and department heads. COVID-19 has uncovered many aspects of our institutional practice that have historically rendered certain labor invisible and left others more vulnerable. Historically, the ivory tower was designed for monastic, solitary contemplation wherein great thoughts were debated and passed down to a few selected students who were fortunate…

Dear Colleague, The murder of George Floyd and the police brutality against those who protest the systems that caused his death are just the latest episodes in the history of American violence against Black people. It must end. We do not know what an America not based on white supremacy looks like, as it has never previously existed, but we do know that all of our institutions will be impacted. Our demands are the first steps in dismantling white supremacy in our university and our union. All who are committed to ending our systems of oppression must act quickly, before…

Dear Colleague, We are writing to encourage you to participate in an anonymous 15-minute survey to gather opinions about the university’s plans to open for in-person, on-campus instruction in fall term. Currently, no one has a good idea of the range of views that exist on campus, and that puts us all in a weaker position in identifying concerns across different groups of people. Collecting this information will allow us to prepare to address the range of opinions and concerns people have and better advocate for safe fall plans. We hope that you will consider joining us in this important…