After our second bargaining session with management and a mediator, university management walked away from the bargaining table after failing to offer proposals that meet members’ needs for a fair contract with COLAs that keep up with inflation. They continue to propose to strip our contract language that helps our union protect jobs from being outsourced to non-union private subcontractors. And while we did see some small movement from management on their COLA proposals, the current proposals still mean we will lose ground to inflation.  

As a result of management’s failures to bring acceptable offers forward, we are declaring impasse. This decision was not taken lightly, and it is a significant turning point in our contract negotiations.  

We have one more scheduled mediated bargaining session next week on February 26th at the University of Oregon. This could be our final time at the bargaining table with management before we either reach an agreement or move toward a strike vote.  

Do you remember signing our strike pledge? Those pledges are extremely important at this phase of our bargaining campaign. A strike authorization vote would be most effective when our members are showing they are ready to do whatever it takes to win the contract we deserve. If you haven’t already, sign the strike pledge today. If you have signed it, talk to your coworkers and make sure they are with us.  

We will be holding a bargaining rally at the University of Oregon on Monday the 26th at noon in front of the EMU. If you’re in Eugene that day, you can do your part by purpling up, showing up, and letting management know that we are UNITED and we will not back down until we win a fair contract. Let’s finish this thing.