As our Higher Ed members prepare for a strike if we don’t reach an agreement with management by Monday, it’s important to know who we are, what we are fighting for, and why.

Who are the classified staff at universities: The 4,500 people that make Oregon’s public universities work. The classified staff at the universities are key to student services, working in financial aid, the library, registrars, and student services. They are the people that keep campuses beautiful, custodians inside and groundskeepers outside. They are the safety officers who keep our campuses safe and food service workers who keep our campuses fed. 

The classified staff at the campuses are fighting for a contract that keeps up with the cost of living. Over the last 10 years their COLAs have averaged to be 1.3% while the CPI has averaged 2.2% That’s a 9% difference over a decade. The contracts the universities have offered have not kept up with the cost of living, which is why classified staff at Oregon’s public universities receive on average 90% of the wages that other public sector workers with comparable benefits earn. 

In spite of the fact that classified staff are the people that keep the campuses running, they are the lowest paid workers on campuses. This has been typical for over a decade, even as the salaries of administrators making $100K+ have risen well above inflation over the same period.

What are we asking for?

COLAs that keep up with the cost of living: Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) exist to ensure that pay steps are worth as much each year as when they were set. COLAs have averaged 1.3% over the last decade, including the 2017-2019 contract where the COLAs were only 1% each year of the contract while the CPI increase was 4.2% and 2.9% during those same years. To keep up with the cost of living we are fighting for 3% COLAs.

Steps: Many public sector workers in Oregon, including public university workers, are compensated on a step system based pay scale. Entry level employees typically start at step one and each year, upon meeting the requirements of their job, advance one step. For university and state workers, each step is 4.75% higher than the previous step. This system brings in new employees well below the market rate and incentivizes loyalty while workers are gaining institutional knowledge and proficiency in their job. When workers get to the top step it puts them closer to market, but at our universities, even workers who are at the top stop are often below market. Even though there is a ten-step pay scale for university workers, because of step freezes from 2009-2013, employees who have worked at the universities for 10+ years are not at the top step. Steps are a system to encourage an experienced workforce to meet the needs of students, not simply a reward.

A new top step: Because COLAs have not kept up with the actual increase in the cost of living, the same steps have less value today than they did in past years. This has happened cyclically, as Oregon has experienced economic downturns, workers accepted less to protect the economics of our public institutions. Historically, this loss in purchasing power has been offset by creating an additional top step and eliminating the lowest step when economic conditions improve, most recently with the latest contract for all non-higher education state employees.

Inclement weather policy: Inclement weather policies showcase management’s lack of respect for classified employees. When universities close due to weather, classified workers must use vacation time or leave without pay. Meanwhile, managers are on a “professional work week” and are not required to use their leave. This means that the lowest-paid workers must use their vacation time or not get paid when schools are closed due to weather, but their bosses don’t. 

We are fighting for the same inclement weather policy for management and staff, a 3% COLA in 2019, a 3.25% COLA in 2020, regular step increases each year, and a new top step. Universities need to make up for a decade of contracts that diminished the purchasing power of their lowest paid workers by acknowledging where workers are at in 2019 compared to a decade ago and help catch up to inflation. Management needs to respect workers.

Higher Ed COLAs vs. CPI over the last decade