Organizing

The Janus decision and United Academics

Earlier this morning, the Supreme Court ruled on the Janus v. AFSCME case, deciding that public employee unions cannot collect “fair share” fees from people who have not joined the union as full members. These fees have, historically, been considered both constitutional and necessary to avoid the problem of “free-riding” by people who receive the benefits of the collective bargaining agreement, but do not voluntarily contribute to the costs of bargaining and maintaining the contract. As of today, public employees who have not signed union cards will still be represented by their union, but will not contribute to keeping their union stable…


Put the movement back in the labor movement

Portland State University is hosting a Labor Notes School from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, April 8. Since 1979 Labor Notes has published labor news and organized movement training for “union activists who want to put the movement back in the labor movement.” This one-day event will be a great chance to learn how union activists have organized vital, effective organizations, and to make contacts with fellow academic union activists here in Oregon. United Academics will pay for three members to attend, so please get in contact if you would like to come. This opportunity is open to…


A report back from the AFT-OR Winter school

The Oregon affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers held the annual Winter School in Seaside, Oregon last month. Our UA cohort of three members found that it was a great chance to take courses from experienced labor activists and make connections with colleagues from the GTFF, Portland State University, Oregon State University, Lane Community College, Portland Community College, and other institutions around the state. David Woken, UA Organizing and Membership Committee Chair and UO Libraries faculty attended The courses “Moving Members to Action,” “Building an Organizing Plan,” and “Advanced Organizing: Breaking Barriers”. The courses covered everything from the one-on-one…


Organizing for Democracy and Strength

Welcome to the new UA newsletter’s organizing column! This will be a space to share news about our organizing progress, tips on how to organize among each other and strengthen our union, and news that bears on how we go about organizing our union. For this first entry, I would like to talk about how we organize as a union, and how it is the bedrock of our strength. Organizing is the lifeblood of a union. Our ability to advocate for better working conditions for ourselves and learning conditions for our students is built on our ability to band together…