Let’s pack the room on March 17

This post reproduces an email sent to GTFF members on February 23, 2023. View the original format.

THANK YOU to everyone who was able to attend our town hall last week! If you weren’t able to make it, here’s what happened:

  • The Bargaining Team presented some initial proposals for our highest-ranked priorities, such as salary, health insurance, international GE support, and campus health and safety.
  • The second hour of the meeting was a Q&A session. Members wrote down any ideas, questions, and/or concerns they had, and many shared their thoughts aloud with the group. Thank you to everyone who participated; your contributions strengthen our proposals!
  • We also showed some of the data and information we used to inform our proposals. Big shout out to everyone who has responded to our member surveys and to our incredible data team for crunching numbers!
  • Finally, we gave a preview of Trello—the platform that the Bargaining Team will be using to keep our members informed about the specific articles in our contract that are under negotiation. Trello will make it possible for you to follow the various exchanges of proposals throughout this process. We’ll be sending out the link to our Trello board around the time of our first exchange of proposals at the March 17 bargaining session.

Read our DIGNITY platform

What’s happening now?

Informed by the Town Hall conversations and other asynchronous feedback, The Bargaining Team is finalizing initial proposals. We’ll vote on these proposals internally before presenting them to the UO team and to our members on March 17.

What’s happening next?

Our first meeting with UO to establish ground rules for our negotiations is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27 from 2-5pm in Crater Lake South (EMU 145).

The next meeting with UO will be on Friday, March 17, from 12-3pm (location TBD). This will be the first session where we will begin presenting our proposals to the University. WE NEED YOU THERE! Our union is built on working as a collective. So, we’ll have the most power if you—our rank and file members—show up and pack the room to show the university how seriously we all take our working conditions.

After Spring Break, we’ll be having negotiation meetings with the University every other week and will post those meetings times once they are scheduled.

Resources and Dates

  • To send comments or questions to the Bargaining Team, fill out our Feedback Form.
  • For a link to the Feb. 17 Town Hall slides, please email president@gtff.net.
  • For more on our bargaining platform and the process of negotiations, read our FAQ page.
  • To tune in remotely to internal Bargaining Team meetings (everyone is invited!), use the GTFF Zoom link.
  • First negotiations meeting with UO on the topic of Bargaining Ground Rules: Feb. 27, 2-5pm, Crater Lake South (EMU 145).
  • Second negotiations meeting with UO on our Presentation of Proposals: March 17, 12-3pm, Location TBD.
  • Weekly internal Bargaining Team meetings: Mondays 6-8pm in the GTFF office and on Zoom.
  • Current contract expiration: June 15, 2023.