Published: July 1, 2016

In early May, housing and food service members at UO – many of whom are student workers – received an email from administration advising them that beginning next September, they would be charged for meals that were once provided as a benefit of the job. This could potentially offset wages for these members, typically the lowest paid on campus, by nearly $700 per year. The offsetting of any wages or benefits is something that needs to be bargained, not imposed.

uo meal

Members gather before meeting with admin to review proposed meal costs.

Nearly 20 classified staff at UO united and spoke out at meeting with food and housing services administration to protect this long-time benefit. “I manage student workers at the American English Institute,” classified staff member Zach Benedict told administrators. “Many of them only work in food services because of the meal benefit. It’s the one meal they can depend on.” Classified staff quickly moved a petition gaining over 300 hundred signatures in support of the food service workers that was delivered to UO administration in handful of days.

Just five days after the initial meeting with UO admin, classified staff hand-delivered over 100 completed petitions demanding that a charge in meals be bargained in the January 2017 economic re-opener. On Friday, June 10, UO’s Director of Human Resources Wes Fowler contacted SEIU 503 and stated: “We have seriously considered the concerns raised by you and your members, and your stated desire that this issue should instead be negotiated during our mid-term bargaining session starting in January 2017. For that reason, the University will defer this issue and raise it again during mid-term bargaining next year.”

By quickly moving into action, the members of SEIU 503 Local 085 were able to protect meal benefits for the next academic year and prevent a nearly $700 reduction in wages for hundreds of members and student workers.