Bargaining Update: Sign up to observe our summer bargaining sessions

As you know, we have been negotiating since April over salary increases for the remainder of our contract (2021-2024), and today we held another session. This week, we also began bargaining over the details of campus reopening for fall. After this week’s sessions, we are certain that bargaining is going to continue through the summer, and you can help us at the table by serving as a bargaining observer. Can you commit to observing at least two sessions this summer and asking a friend to join you?

Please read on for brief updates over both of these bargaining sessions.

CAMPUS REOPENING BARGAINING

Our UAOSU bargaining team and the administration team met for campus reopening bargaining 9–10 on Monday, June 7.

We spent most of this session asking questions about the details of the campus-wide plans, and how they translate to unit-specific guidance. The policies seem to be evolving quickly now, but many specific details remain unknown. We are working to have a strong voice in the changes, much as we were able to secure robust protections through our negotiated MOUs earlier in the pandemic.

The next campus reopening bargaining session is 12–1 on Thursday, June 24 on Zoom and you can register here. Even if it’s just for 10 minutes between classes or during a coffee break, your attendance matters: show the administration that you care about a safe and respectful return to onsite work.

SALARY BARGAINING

Our UAOSU bargaining team and the administration team met 8:30–9:15 on Wednesday, June 9 on Zoom. Forty-seven faculty members observed the session.

Despite having nearly a month to counter our initial proposal and having stated at our last session that they would bring a written counterproposal today, the administration team came to the table empty-handed; indeed, with less than 24 hours notice before today’s session, they asked to postpone salary bargaining until July.

We spent this session asking about the need for this delay. Admin described, once again, general financial uncertainties, concerns around capital projects — nothing that seems newly pressing. We had anticipated these arguments when we first convened this round of bargaining back in April. In fact, we had asked then if they were ready, and they assured us they were.

While we are skeptical of the need and frustrated by the extended delay, we agreed to postpone until July, but we expect to see a written counter-proposal at that point.

The next salary bargaining session is 9:30–11 on Thursday, July 1 on Zoom, and you can register here. We are very keen to see what the administration’s written proposal contains, and you should join us to find out for yourself. Even if you can only drop by for part of the session, your attendance matters: show the administration that faculty are watching this process.

Our collective gains are directly tied to our ability to show the administration that we’re united as faculty. Join with us today to strengthen our efforts in the work ahead.

In solidarity,

Your bargaining team

Bill Thomas, Botany and Plant Pathology

Dan Andersen, Political Science, AFT-OR

Filix Maisch, Mathematics

H Rakes, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Jan Medlock, Biomedical Sciences

Kathleen Stanley, Sociology

Kelly McElroy, Library