Upcoming Sessions & Bargaining Debriefs

This past Friday, GTFF’s bargaining team presented proposed language changes to seven articles

The health of our university and the safety of our community are under threat: These articles address some of the most urgent and severe issues we face as workers and community members. Based on feedback from our member bargaining survey and months of research, strategy, and discussion by our bargaining team, we demanded the following changes to our contract:  

Check our Proposal Tracker for exact language!

Members turned out to the EMU Ballroom, but this room is big and easily looks empty – help us pack the room by bringing one new co-worker to the next session!

The GTFF Bargaining Team is the mouthpiece of our membership. We want to hear from you about your priorities and concerns, especially those connected to the articles we’ll be presenting next session. You can share your testimony with us here. Tell UO in your own words your struggles in our workplace and your demands for change!

GTFF’s Proposals

Article 35: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

“How can we teach when students are afraid to come to class?”

-Testimony from Carolina Cortes, GE in Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies Department; GTFF and IRES member

• Add requirement of notification of immigration enforcement arrival on campus: Our language demands this notification be sent to our GTFF president and staff organizer. Our demands are supported by the new Oregon State Law requiring schools to adopt policies for immigration enforcement presence on campus.
• Expand definition of “immigration enforcement agent” to include groups that are currently performing immigration enforcement, or could in the future: This language expands GE protections against immigration enforcement already won in previous bargaining cycles.
• Add protections against unjustified request of immigration status or agent presence on campus: Our proposed language puts the burden of responsibility on UO to confirm the legality of an agent’s request before complying.

Article 27: Support and resources for international (non-citizen) GEs

“I’m furious—you would be, too, if you read the emails I get. I and others have to sit down and make decisions that should never have been ours to make in the first place. Give them the support that you owe them.”

-Testimony from Gretchen Nihill in the Psychology Department and GTFF member, speaking to her experience as GTFF Mutual Aid Chair receiving pleads for support from non-citizen students 

• Changed “international” to “non-citizen” across the article: this language expands protections to include domestic students who have non-citizen status. 
• Demanded: leave and protection against discharge for handling of immigration-related matters, union representation in immigration-related meetings.  
• Added Section 11 to allow for urgent bargaining needs: “Recognizing that changes in law or jurisprudence can affect the details of this article, the University agrees to meet and bargain over this article at the request of the Union.”

Article 24: Health Insurance

This coming year (AY 26/27), we expect a 24% increase in the total price of our health insurance premium.

This price increase is unprecedentedly high, with normal renewal rates for the past decade being around 10%. 

Our total premium cost is split between GEs (5% of cost) and the University (95% of cost) except:

“Whenever the premium increase is in excess of 10%, the University shall be responsible for 50% of the marginal premium increase over 10%”

leaving GEs responsible for 50% of the marginal increase in addition to the original 5%.

Interpretation of this increased cost as being cumulative means that GEs are currently paying 11% of our total healthcare premium price, instead of 5%. 

In the face of the expected extreme 24% renewal rate, this line means that while UO’s share of the rates will only go up 18%, the price we pay will go up 127%.

This is unacceptable; Our bargaining team proposed this line be removed from our contract, demanding the ongoing availability of affordable health insurance for all GEs and their families.

Article 8: non-discrimination & anti-harassment

• Added protected characteristics: genetic information, political identity, past or present physical or mental health or disability
• Demanded notification of any law changes regarding protections against discrimination and harassment
• Demanded notification and GE consent for disclosure of GE records to federal and state entities, except as required by law

Article X: Academic Freedom & Free Speech [NEW]

“…the University [administration] has decided to preemptively comply with the dismantling of DEI and has gestured that it will deprioritize the departments and areas of studies I work on without hesitance and without accountability.”

-Gonzalo Bustamante Moya, PhD candidate in Philosophy and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, GTFF member

This is a fully new article! I greatly encourage you to check out the full language using our Proposal Tracker. This article demands “The University protects academic freedom for graduate employees in all aspects of their employment, as defined in this article” including:

• “The freedom to conduct research and creative work and to publish or otherwise disseminate the results of that work” including advocacy/outreach work. 
• “The freedom to teach, both in and outside of the classroom” including controversial or politically attacked topics and without fear of punishment or retaliation. 
• Transitional funds to cover grants or visas revoked due to censorship
• Protections for: peaceful protest and assembly on and off campus, verbal and written opinions of university governance or policy

Article 25: Respectful Workplace and Support Services & Article 26: Caregiving Support

• Funding guaranteed for minimum 6 instead of 5 years
• Removing “intent” needed for an action to qualify as discrimination/harassment
• Expansion of the Graduate Student Assistance Fund – more money and more/clarification of qualifying circumstance 
• Discount for childcare support continued over summer if GE is returning

What was that? At Friday’s session, UO’s team didn’t say much but they did…

1: propose cutting their requirement to provide printed copies of our contract. This would unnecessary limit access to the contract (esp when we don’t all have access to wifi, something we demanded last bargaining cycle). Paper copies guarantee contract access that cannot be lost by a downed/removed website

2: suggest starting bargaining earlier. The current bargaining timeline works well for GTFF. UO’s team suggested that by starting bargaining earlier in the academic year, we may agree on a new contract before the summer. This is unlikely with UO’s history of stall tactics.

The next Bargaining Session will be late this term: Stay Connected!

We’ll be sharing information about the time and place for our next bargaining session on the members-only Slack and on our Instagram. You can stay updated on our bargaining progress on the GTFF website. At our next session, we will continue to present articles and hope for substantial response from UO’s team. We need you (yes, you!!) to help us fill the room again! Keep updated and bring a couple coworkers along with you to the next session!