Faculty ratify new contract with UO

United Academics announced that after voting closed Friday, members ratified a new union contract with UO. With 76% of members participating, 97% voted yes. Faculty learned of a prospective tentative agreement just 14 hours before classes were set to start. The beginning of spring term was also when they were set to strike had they not reached a TA. After the TA was reached by both the university and faculty bargaining teams on March 30, it went to vote by members and ultimately approved on Friday.

“Especially given the broader federal context, the stakes of whether or not to go on strike were abnormally high and deeply unsettling. Separate from the stakes, the prolonged uncertainty about whether we would be at work or on the picket lines made it diffcult to prepare for whatever might come next,” UA President Mike Urbancic wrote in a letter to members.

In the letter Urbancic cites many of the concerns members had with the contract and says that he sympathizes with them. Among those he lists are the sunsetting of Tenure Reduction Program (TRP) and lack of gurantees for proffesional development of Career Instructional faculty. He also says raises to the salary floor are a great improvement, but overall the salary given to faculty doesn’t reflect what they put in.

“Let us be clear – both union and management alike! This new collective bargaining agreement is a fairer contract, but not yet a fair contract. There is a lot of work stlll to be done to improve pay and working conditions in the next contract and beyond,” Urbancic says.