Bargaining officially began on Thursday, February 13
Your elected bargaining team sat down with management from all seven of Oregon’s public universities to make opening statements at the University of Oregon.
SEIU 503 President Johnny Earl and Executive Director Melissa Unger sent a strong message about what union members need to see out of bargaining. Melissa made it clear that even in the face of budget uncertainty, workers contribute to our state in a meaningful way and need good wages and benefits to keep them working at these universities.
You can read Melissa’s full statement here, and see a video of her repeating the statement.
For the past two months we have been fighting for your right to observe bargaining remotely on Zoom, since it’s not always possible for people to attend sessions in person. Management knows that when you see what happens at the table, it keeps you active in the fight and builds our power, so they attempted to keep these meetings offline. While we did not get unlimited access, we were able to win that all sessions will remain open unless either side requests a closed session. However, opening statements, all initial proposals and salary selective presentations must remain open. Keep an eye on your emails and the member Facebook group for information about how you can tune in during future bargaining sessions.
Both sides passed two proposals.
- We passed Union Rights (Article 10) and Recognition (Article 2). Our proposals expand workers' access to their union and ensure more workers get all the rights that our contract provides. (Your CAT member can give you more information.)
- Management’s two proposals were regarding Personnel Records (Article 16) and Sick Leave (Article 36). As these proposals are discussed in more detail and we open more articles, we will share a side-by-side comparison with you.
Members Showed Up!
We had great member participation last week – at one point nearly 150 observers were watching virtually, reminding management that they are not just bargaining with the team at the table, there are thousands of Higher Ed Union members who are ready to fight for what you deserve!
Hundreds of people showed up for the rally outside the UO amphitheater delivering a signed banner as a “Valentine’s Day card” to management. Check out video of the action here.
Our next bargaining session is March 5 at Western University in Monmouth – we will remind you closer to that date so you can participate in person or virtually.