4.28.23 Updates from our April 26 bargaining session on Paid Leave Oregon
Dear colleagues,
Your UAOSU bargaining team met with the administration team on April 26 for an hour regarding the implementation of the Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) program. We presented a counterproposal, consistent with our original proposal from October of last year. The administration’s team continues to insist that due to unspecified uncertainties, they cannot agree to more than compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
To probe their continued insistence that there are uncertainties about implementing Paid Leave Oregon, we went through the pertinent bills that are being considered by the Oregon legislature, and referred administration to the Employer Guidebook to PLO. The administration’s team also confirmed that there are no technical issues that pose a barrier to implementing our proposals. We remain mystified as to what uncertainties the administration is referring to. We reiterated that we need specific reasoning about areas of disagreement so that we can work together toward a shared agreement.
We are concerned with the administration’s reluctance to work with us on specifying how faculty will navigate the new leave system and how accrued leave will be used to “top off” the salary replacement offered by PLO. We have already heard inquiries from faculty about how leave will work in September when PLO takes effect. We have been bargaining since October, and there is increasing urgency to establish how this new leave will work with the leaves described in our CBA. We would like to see the law work in a way that benefits faculty and the institution, and hope that the administration can bring a counterproposal that reflects that.
We have four sessions scheduled for May, the details and registration links for each are below.
- Thursday 5/11 10 – 11am – uaosu.org/may11
- Tuesday 5/16 10 – 11am – uaosu.org/may16
- Wednesday 5/24 11am – 12pm – uaosu.org/may24
- Wednesday 5/31 10 – 11am – uaosu.org/may31
Faculty are invited to observe. We very much appreciate the support of those who have been in attendance and hope to see more of you in future sessions. Our power in bargaining is related to the strength of our membership. If you haven’t had a chance, you can join your union at uaosu.org/join.
In solidarity,
Your bargaining team: Kathleen Stanley (UAOSU President and Lead Negotiator), Louisa Hooven (UAOSU Grievance Chair), Marisa Chappell (UAOSU Executive Vice President), Lori Cramer (UAOSU Representative), H Rakes (UAOSU Representative), Megan Dickison and Dan Andersen (UAOSU Executive Directors)