TL;DR: To build pressure for a fair deal, we are asking YOU to take three contract actions that help grow our collective power:
- This Friday (Jan 24) post a Canvas announcement and/or update your email signature with info about bargaining;
- share context (slides + script) with your students about our contract fight; and
- talk to 2-3 coworkers about what YOU think we need to do to win the contract we deserve!
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Last week, our Contract Action Team launched our Contract Action Kit — a toolkit of resources and actions that you can take to help us secure a fair contract — in advance of a major milestone set to begin this Friday: state-mandated mediation. From this point forward, a state mediator will push each side to make concessions towards a deal.
On the current minimum legal timeline, we may gain the right to strike as early as finals week of winter term (although we are not obligated to strike at that time). After at least 15 days of “good faith” mediation have passed, either party may declare “impasse”. Within 7 days of impasse, each side will make a public “best” offer. After 30 days of “cooling off”, the employer gains the right to impose their offer upon us without our consent — and we gain the right to withhold our labor in a protected strike.
Building pressure through a credible strike threatsignificantly increases our chances of reaching a deal without actually having to withhold our labor. For that reason, we are asking you to help us build the credibility of our strike threat by spending the next week talking directly with students and colleagues about why we need wages that reflect our labor’s average market value, and what we are collectively willing to do to win a fair deal.
Talking seriously with each other, students, and community members about what a faculty strike would look like is an important step for building trust in our ability to take collective action, for identifying potential challenges we may need to solve together, and for projecting our strength to the University of Oregon’s leadership.
Having these conversations now will help each of us feel confident when it comes time to sign strike pledges over the next few weeks. We need strike pledges to send a strong message to the administration about how committed we are to the demands still on the table. If you want to help us with the logistics of collecting strike pledges, please attend Contract Action Team meetings on Thursdays from 11am-12pm (in the UA office and over zoom).
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS - AND TALK ABOUT THEM!
We know that conversations about the possibility of withholding our collective labor may feel a little uncomfortable at first. The best way to help everyone feel more comfortable is to build real relationships of trust through supportive conversations, and through learning about your rights as a union-represented worker.
Within our state, unionized public employees like us have the right to withhold our labor after the appropriate legal timeline (PECBA) has passed, in addition to a number of other internal steps. Most importantly, UA would conduct a members-only strike authorization vote, which would empower the bargaining team to declare a 10-day intent to strike if they deem it necessary. If your colleagues are not already members, ask them to join UA and let them know that only UA members can vote on strike authorization and whether or not to approve the final deal.
All faculty employees represented by UA’s contract have legal rights to withhold their labor during a protected strike. This includes both domestic workers and international workers, as well as both union and non-union members. In other words, your participation in union activity (up to and including a strike) is legally protected.
Retaliation against workers for protected union activity (such as talking about our union, joining our union, and participating in our union) is against the law and should be reported to UA's grievances officer (Nathan Whalen) immediately. You should not speak with members of management about any of UA’s internal discussions concerning a strike. Your supervisor should not ask you about your personal participation in the union, or your intent to participate in a potential strike.
ATTEND UNION EVENTS AND MEETINGS
In addition to having discussions in our various workplaces over the next few weeks, our membership will come together as a whole to discuss our bargaining priorities and overall strategy at the next General Membership Meeting (GMM). The winter GMM will be held on Thursday, February 6 in Allen Hall 221 from 5-7pm.
We also have several upcoming events and meetings where you can connect with other union members:
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Virtual Town Hall on January 27th from 12:00-1:30pm to give updates on our first mediation session. You can join us here.
- Caucus meetings all held in person at the Union Hall
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Week 4 - Working Families and Instructional Faculty Combined Caucus
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Wednesday, January 29, 2025 from 11:30am to 1:30pm
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Week 6 - Faculty of Color Caucus
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Wednesday, February 12, 2025 from 11:30am to 1:30pm
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Week 8 - Pride Caucus
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Wednesday, February 26, 2025 from 11:30am to 1:30pm
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Coming this term! International Faculty Caucus!
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Research events
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Week 4 - Researcher Roundtable at the Union Hall
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Monday, January 27, 2025 from from 4 to 5:30pm
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Week 5 - Researcher Social Hour at the Union Hall
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Monday, February 3, 2025 from 4-6pm
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Week 6 - Natural Science Faculty Drop-in in LISB 217
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Monday, February 10, 2025 from 2:30-4pm
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