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April 24, 2026

Prioritizing Fair Economics for University Workers

“ [...] ground yourselves in the challenging economic situations our workers find themselves in. Our workers have no impact on the economic situation of the university, while you all have the most direct impact on the economic situation of these workers as their main source of income.” - SEIU 503 Executive Director Melissa Unger while delivering the Union’s initial economic proposal.  

Our bargaining team met at OSU-Cascades campus in Bend for our ninth and tenth sessions with management. We were joined by SEIU 503 Executive Director Melissa Unger as we delivered our economic proposal along with a strong message about the priorities of Higher Ed workers: SEIU members need wage increases that keep up with the cost of living and protection of our healthcare benefits.   

After pressuring our bargaining team for weeks to exchange economic proposals, management’s team switched gears at the last minute and refused to offer a proposal on wages, telling us they wouldn’t have a proposal ready until the May 14 deadline. We are disappointed with management’s decision and what it indicates about how they are engaging in bargaining. We are concerned they aren’t taking the needs of classified workers seriously.  

Our team reminded management of the stark realities classified workers are facing. For example, 40% of us can't afford to live in the communities where we work, requiring us to commute long distances. With gasoline now over $5 a gallon in many places, far too many of us are struggling to meet basic needs. 71% of us pay more than 30% of our income towards housing, and 54% run out of money before our next paycheck. Highly paid university administrators should not balance their budgets on the backs of the lowest-paid workers on campus. We took the universities’ budget realities into consideration in our proposals, now they need to take our members’ budgets into consideration in theirs. 

Union Economic Proposals (Article 21, Article 4, Article 15 plus new Letter of Agreement) 

• July 1, 2026 wage increase: CPI-W (Consumer Price Index aka inflation) + 3% (but not less than 4% total)  
• July 1, 2027 wage increase: CPI-W + 2%  (but not less than 4% total)
• No changes to our healthcare contributions
• Longevity premium: 1% for every 5 years that an employee has been at their university added on top of our current 2.5% longevity premium  
• A pilot program for a 32-hour work week with no loss in pay or benefits. Each university would run a pilot program in two or more departments during fiscal year 2027 to evaluate the long-term feasibility of this work schedule.  
• Proposed improvements to cost of and access to parking.
• 2-year contract 

Management Proposals

• Restructure how overtime is calculated by redefining time worked, removing comp, vacation and other paid leave as part of calculations. This would reduce the OT earned by workers. (Article 25, section 1) 
• Opened Article 5 on Complete Agreement/Past Practices to limit our ability to file certain kinds of grievances 
• Letter of Agreement for PSU Helen Gordon Child Development Center Preschool for All 
• 4-year contract (Article 4) 

Management proposed extending the term of our agreement to 4 years without any economic offers to offset a long contract.  

Our team is determined to meet this moment head on, and it is going to take all of us to send management this message: classified workers need an economic proposal from management that respects us and the work we do every day to keep our campuses running. 

On May 15, we will hold our biggest rally yet when we bargain at UO. Together, we will tell them exactly how we feel about their economics! We are asking workers to come from all universities statewide to join in this massive rally – we are arranging transportation options to help everyone get there. Register here for more information!

April 1, 2026

We met with management this week on March 30 and 31 at OSU for another two days of bargaining. 

Thank you to all the OSU workers that showed up for the rally in support of the bargaining team. Special thanks to OSU’s outgoing Sublocal 083 Union President Russ Born, 083 President Elect Jax Johnson, 083 VP Elect James Pravis, Jackson Brenner-Smith from the OSU Valley Library, and Dan from the UAOSU Faculty Union. We would also like to thank the classified staff and student workers at the LaSells Stewart Center who supported us during negotiations. Your team truly felt the solidarity from all these groups and the loud march was hard to ignore on campus!

Union Proposals

We passed proposals on the following articles:

• Article 19 (No Discrimination) We rejected mgmt proposal to remove grievance process from discrimination cases; added sections on stewards, LMC and Transgender Rights. 
• Article 28 (Affirmative Action) Updated language on non-discriminatory hiring practices and support for diverse applicant pools. 
• Creating a new article: Article 66 (Immigration and Identity Protections): Proposed safeguards for workers that may experience verification/reverification processes, no-match letters, change in name/social security number, and worksite raids and wrongful detention.

Management 

Rejected Union proposals on:

• Article 2 (Recognition) Deals with use of temp employees.
• Article 54 (Computer Work Stations) Deals with digital monitoring. 

Passed counter proposals on:

• Article 16 (Personnel Records) Deals with retention of records and access for stewards.
• Article 57 (Uniforms, Protective Clothing and Tools) Deals with accessing appropriate uniforms and gear, and maintaining tools.
• Article 59 (Technological Change/Retraining)

Thanks to the folks that continue to show up on Zoom to observe bargaining and support our team at the table. We feel your support during these challenging sessions.

Next Bargaining Session

We will be in Bend at the OSU-Cascades campus on April 23 and 24. We’ll share information about a rally on that campus soon. In the meantime, keep purpling up to show your union pride. Especially on days that we are bargaining.

March 23, 2026

Last week, classified workers and supporters rallied at PSU’s Urban Plaza downtown to demand a fair contract PSU member leader Rob Fullmer told the crowd that workers are ready to show their power in this campaign. He emphasized how absurd it is to ask the lowest-paid employees to make sacrifices while the university president earns more than $700,000 a year. Pointing to the crowd, Fullmer asked, “Where’s my ‘chop from the top’ sign? It’s always the lowest-paid employees who are expected to take the hit." Check out a video of the action here.

Thank you for continuing to support your bargaining team in person and via Zoom. And thank you to local leadership at PSU and our siblings at AAUP, PSUSWU (Student Workers Union), Jobs with Justice, and state representative Lamar Wise for showing up last Thursday!

Special thanks to Christina White from PSU for joining the bargaining team for lunch on Friday to share her wildly successful Union New Employee Orientation strategy! We took notes to support our Union Rights article proposal and improve best practices at all schools.

At the Table

We presented initial proposals on: 

• Article 57 (Uniforms, Protective Clothing and Tools) 
• Article 59 (Technological Change/Retraining)
• We continued to work through concepts around inclement weather benefits and no discrimination

Management presented proposals on: 

• Article 17 (Discipline and Discharge)
• Offered their positions on existing Letters of Agreement (e.g. Portland Streetcar)

We continue to work through a variety of articles and the deadline for initial proposals is May 14. We expect initial economic proposals to be the last topic covered by the May 14 deadline.

What’s next?

Our next bargaining sessions are on March 30 and 31 at OSU. Please register for the rally and show up in support of your bargaining team! 

Purple up on OSU rally day, March 31! If you join to observe on Zoom, use our Higher Education campaign logo as your profile picture (instructions on how to update your photo can be found here) and a bargaining background from our webpage. 

Economic Priorities Survey

Your bargaining team needs to hear from you again about your priorities in this contract. We are waiting for management to bring us their economic proposals and your responses to the survey below will help us to better respond. Please submit the economic priority survey ASAP!

March 9, 2026

We met late last week for our second bargaining session with university management at Western Oregon University (WOU) in Monmouth – university members, students and supporters got us motivated to head to the table by rallying and marching on Thursday, March 5 (see video here). Shout out to WOU and sublocal 82 for hosting this session and to Johnny Earl, a higher ed member and our union President, for being there to support the team! 

We meet next at Portland State University on Thursday, March 19th (register to rally here) and on Tuesday, March 31st at Oregon State University in Corvallis (register here). If you are unable to rally at either of these events, you can still support bargaining by purpling up,  showing solidarity with your fellow university workers as well as observing on Zoom. 

Here is what happened at the bargaining table  

• Management presented the finalized executive summary of the market study at the table; if you have questions about the study, please follow up with a local union leader/CAT member.  
• Management proposed changes on Article 18 (Grievance and Arbitration), Article 19 (No Discrimination), Article 31 (Trial Service), Art 37 (Bereavement), Article 43 (Vacation), Article 48 (Reclassification). 
• Our team made proposals on Article 13 (Contracting Out), Article 16 (Personnel File), Article 44 (Layoff), Article 46 (Academic Year Positions), Article 54 (Computer Work Stations), and we proposed a new Article (65) on Artificial Intelligence.  

Important information

Salary selective trainings are underway. If you attended the first session, please remember to attend again on March 10. 

Zoom Observation Update

We invite you to join us virtually on Zoom to observe bargaining during our next sessions. You’ll get the sign-in information in your email shortly before the session begins with instructions on how to plug in on Zoom. Show your union pride by updating your Zoom profile pic (this is the small photo that shows up when you have your camera off) with our Higher Education campaign logo and safeguard your identity by using an anonymous, but respectful name (a fun video game character, a favorite pet, etc.). Instructions on how to update your photo can be found here. When a lot of members observe these sessions, we show just how powerful our union is! 

Keep your eyes out for an economic survey in your email inbox next week - we will need your feedback as we continue to negotiate with management. 

February 17, 2026

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.  

February 10, 2026

Bargaining officially begins this Thursday! At 10am, Executive Director Melissa Unger will read the opening statement drafted by the members of your bargaining team, including our expectations based on bargaining survey results. We will also take this time to present the "Fighting for Higher Education" bargaining petition, which has been signed by the majority of Higher Ed union members! 

Zoom Meeting Guidelines:

If you are joining via Zoom, please keep the following in mind:

• Attendees will be muted throughout the session.
• If you choose to turn on your camera, ensure that there are no inappropriate or offensive background images or objects.

We encourage you to create a sea of purple with our Higher Ed Zoom/Teams backgrounds, please download any of the available options from our bargaining webpage. There are options for desktop computers and smartphones. Join the meeting at this link:

January 21, 2026

Your Higher Ed bargaining team met on Thursday and Friday last week to prepare for our upcoming first meeting with management. Here is a Report back from our January 15-16 work sessions:

Sign the petition for a strong contract!

It’s an easy way to make a powerful statement. Sign it, get your coworkers to sign it, talk it up on the job to every co-worker you see! Spread the word on social media using text from one of the emails we’ve sent you or copy it from the Higher Ed Facebook group. Check your email for a personalized link to sign the petition. Subject: Your first offical bargaining update for 2026

Improving our contract: 

We spent time reviewing articles and drafting initial proposals in preparation for bargaining. We are discussing the things that you spoke to in the bargaining survey: economics, benefits, workload, employee protections, union power, AI and more.

Negotiations begin this February in Eugene: 

Our first meeting with mgmt. is coming soon; February 12-13 at UO. We’re asking union members to show up in force and make it clear, you’re ready to fight for a good contract. Mark your calendars for February 12th, and join us for a rally from 12–1PM @ EMU Amphitheater.

Ground rules and Zoom observation: 

We are currently exchanging proposals on ground rules for our negotiations. It’s important that you can observe both in person, and on Zoom. Mgmt. wants to limit Zoom observers to just 10 people, and we’ve made it clear that is unacceptable!

Stay tuned for regular bargaining updates as negotiations begin in a few weeks.

December 5th, 2025

The bargaining survey is now closed, and our team is already looking closely at what you told us.

Now we need you to take the next step. We’re asking every higher education worker to stand with us by signing this petition that lists our main goals for the next contract.

Use the link in your email to add your name and show university leaders that we are ready to fight for a fair contract in 2026. The subject line is "Fighting For Higher Education - Add your name". Please reach out to contact@seiu503.org if you can't find it in your inbox or spam folder.

When we stand together, we are powerful. With all of us united, there is nothing we can’t win.

September 23, 2025

The time has come for us to begin Bargaining for a new Higher Education contract! We know that when we win at the bargaining table, it’s because our members get active in their union and take action to support one another. We want to take a minute to ask for your feedback in this important bargaining survey. The survey results, which are a direct result of your input, will be instrumental in guiding our negotiation efforts on the issues important to you. Your survey will remain anonymous and not be shared with anyone outside the bargaining team. Check your email by searching for "survey" or reach out to your organizer to get a copy of your personalized survey link.

September 18th, 2025

The 2025 Higher Education Bargaining Conference is in the books! Member leaders from the 7 Oregon public universities came together in Salem to plan how to win a strong contract in 2026. Bargaining is never easy, but this campaign is going to be a real fight. A straightforward conversation took place regarding the economic outlook for universities and its implications for our negotiations. If we want to win this time around, we’re going to have to be bold! Your elected bargaining delegates were present to strategize around the challenges, opportunities, and the way forward. Even in the face of a grim economic outlook we have a plan that will win at the bargaining table. This plan works better when members get engaged and are ready to take action across all seven campuses. 

As a key component of the conference, delegates and leaders will examine the bargaining survey. Be on the lookout for a personalized bargaining survey link arriving in your email shortly! 

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May 15 UO Rally for a Fair Contract

EMU Amphitheater, 1395 University St, Eugene, OR. 12 to 1pm. Register Here.

TBD - check back soon!