Dear UA Members,
We worked hard in bargaining to get administration to acknowledge and offer institutional support for faculty caregivers. We were successful in pushing them to recognize their necessary role in making needed infrastructure a reality.
As way of reminder, Article 34 “Caregiving”:
- Established a $500,000 Childcare Community Partnership Investment Fund to address local shortage of care providers
- Created annual $100,000 Travel Support Fund to offset work-related caregiving costs
- Purchased an institutional membership to care.com, so bargaining unit faculty members can have membership access to care.com to support individual caregiving needs.
We know that many of you have questions about the implementation and timeline of the Caregivers Article in our recently ratified Collective Bargaining Agreement. We have been pushing upper administration and HR to be clear on the timeline and make consistent progress on this urgent issue.
Here is our progress report:
We do not yet have a timeline from the administration for implementation of the Community Partnership Investment Fund to address the shortage of care providers.
We do not yet have a timeline from the administration on the Travel Support Fund.
The care.com membership is in the works and we have been told it should be accessible through institutional membership in October.
On that note, in the vein of the recent campus-wide message sent by Chief Human Resources Officer Mark Schmelz asking for flexibility, we want to reiterate the importance of flexibility by faculty colleagues, unit heads, directors, and leadership to acknowledge and understand that the entire nation, including Eugene, is experiencing a major shortage in care providers in all sectors.
Caregivers should expect flexibility in scheduling unit meetings, courses, and programming, and recognize that while the university is proceeding as “back to new normal” we are still facing numerous challenges due to the Coronavirus pandemic and consequential labor shortages.
We recognize that we still have a lot of work ahead. If you are experiencing any challenges with your working situation due to caregiving issues please contact us at [email protected] or through your representative or steward. We also have a Working Families Caucus that regularly addresses issues faced by our members juggling caregiving and work. If you’d like to join the caucus, you can find additional information here.
In Solidarity,
United Academics Executive Council
General Membership Meeting
We are excited to host our first in-person General Membership Meeting in nearly three years. The GMM will be the first of many opportunities for members to engage in the implementation of our new Collective Bargaining Agreement and weigh in on TRP, unit policy revisions, and other upcoming changes. We hope to see you there!
Canvassing and Phone Banking
Oregon AFL-CIO has two very important canvasses coming up: Eugene (10/8) and Salem (10/15)!
This Saturday (10/8), participants will meet at 10am at AFSCME Council 75. The address is: 688 Charnelton St. Eugene, OR. Canvassing will be for Tina Kotek and Christina Stephenson. The flyer for this event can be found here.
On Saturday (10/15), come out to Salem at 10 am to canvass with us at SEIU 503 (1730 Commercial St. SE, Salem, OR).
Oregon AFL-CIO now hosts four phone banks a week (Mon-Thurs) from 5:30-8 pm. You can sign up for phone banks and canvasses here. Contact [email protected] with any questions.