Graduate Employees Union of Portland State University

The Bargaining Team and PSU Administration met on February 10th and February 13th. Below is a quick summary of our sessions.

Through our bargaining process, we have tentatively agreed (TA’d) on a number of relatively straightforward articles. These articles include:

• Defining Parties
• Recognition
• Communications
• Distribution and Printing
• Separability
• Labor Management Committee

However, as we are moving into more complex articles, the PSU Administration has been reluctant to agree on language.

We currently have two articles tabled:

Non-discrimination: Both parties presented language for non-discrimination and we have agreed on the majority of the article. However, the PSU Administration presented language that prevents GEU members from using a contract’s only externally mandated enforcement mechanism (the arbitration process) in the event of a violation of the non-discrimination policies in the article. This language is equivalent to not having a non-discrimination article. We were quite shocked that this was the case and pushed back considerably. Due to the inability to come to an agreement, we had to table the article. We will be coming back to this article later in the process.

Strike/Lockout: Both parties presented language for Strike/Lockout and we have agreed on most sections, including standard language that:

• defines a strike through Oregon law (ORS 243.650(22)),
• agrees that GEU will not strike during the term of the contract (this does not limit our right to strike during current negotiations, or in the event that we do not negotiate a successor contract with PSU before this contract’s term expires),
• guarantees we will not be locked out,
• guarantees that if we are unable to work because another strike limits our access to facilities or equipment, we still get paid, and
• guarantees that GEU will advise GAs who are striking out of compliance with these rules to stop.

We disagreed on the issue of whether the PSU Administration should be prohibited from compelling GAs to do the work of other striking employees, e.g. requiring a GTA assigned to support a faculty member teaching a course section to take on that faculty member’s instruction duties in the event the faculty member is on strike. We argued that GAs should have the right to stand in solidarity with other striking employees by not taking their work, while the PSU Administration argued that they need to keep the school running during a strike.

Currently on the Table: We are currently working on the Appointments article. This article includes eligibility of appointments, notice of appointments, appointment letters, and the role of assistantships. Both parties presented language and we have gone through the question phase. We are starting at very different places. At the meeting on Friday, both parties will be presenting edited drafts of our initial proposal.

One of the major points of conflict with appointments is the time frame with which GAs will receive notification. Our initial proposal called for appointment letters to be provided 25 business days before the start of the term, with exceptions for extraneous circumstances. PSUFA (the adjunct union) currently has the same time frame for appointments in their contract. The administration presented language with appointment letters being provided at the latest, 10 business days before the start of the term, and only for GTAs (they did not offer any provisions regarding notification of GRA or GAA appointments). They claimed that supervisors need the flexibility to hire GRAs and GAAs at will with no notice and that because this is our first contract, there are currently no standard policies governing GRA or GAA appointments.

Our next session will be taking place from 9am – 4pm on Friday, February 24th. We will be meeting in the Market Center Building, in the Gold Room (MCB 541). Here is the agenda for the session:

• Ice Breaker
• Communications and updates
• Outstanding Sections: Appointments, remember tabled sections (non-discrimination and no strike/no lockout)
• Proposed Sections: Workload/Assignment, Term of Agreement, Summer Term, Jury Duty
  Agenda setting
• Come hang out with us, participate in caucuses, and, if you have a story to tell about your experience as a GA, speak about it!

Today, January 13th, we met with the PSU Administration team for several hours. We focused on our underlying interests for a variety topics for which we decided on last session. The interests we brought forth arose from responses to surveys and conversations with the membership.

During the session, we again pushed for the basic information we need to represent our members and received only part of the information. We are still waiting on information, but we are expecting more in the coming week.

On January 23rd, we will be starting to discuss contract provisions about employee evaluations for graduate assistants. This could include access to evaluations, understanding evaluation metrics, transparency in the process, completeness of records used in and about evaluations, and timely notifications of evaluations. We hope anyone and everyone interested in the topic, or bargaining in general, will come observe the session! Follow this link to let us know you are coming!

In solidarity,

The GEU Bargaining Team – Andrés, Emily, Forrest, Neal, and Ted

We met with the PSU administration last Friday, January 6th, and continued to push for the basic information we need to represent our members. Throughout our negotiations so far, PSU has characterized GAs as students first, employees second, usually to justify why they are hesitant to give us information we need for bargaining or negotiate issues relevant to our employment at PSU. Last term we asked PSU for key information we need for bargaining. There have been many unfulfilled commitments and delays, but we’re cautiously optimistic to report that they have committed to deliver the most important information by next week.

So far, we’ve agreed to discuss non-economic contract topics in this order:

• Workload, assignments, notice and eligibility of appointment, class size, summer term appointments
• Evaluation
• Discipline, grievance, and arbitration
• Orientation, training
• Union – rights, dues, eligibility, etc.
• University rights
• Health welfare, workplace safety, family issues, childcare
• Work location, work conditions, accessibility
• Layoff
• Use of university resources, library
• Intellectual property and academic freedom

List of bargaining dates for upcoming term:

• 1/13/2017
• 1/23/2017
• 2/10/2017
• 2/13/2017
• 2/24/2017
• 3/06/2017
• 3/10/2017
• 3/17/2017

We’ll follow up with locations for these meetings next week. If you see issues you’re passionate about in this list, get in touch with us!

In solidarity,

The GEU Bargaining Team – Andrés, Emily, Forrest, Neal, and Ted

During the most recent bargaining session (December 9th, 2016), we completed a final draft of ground rules. Both teams are reviewing these ground rules, and we’ve scheduled an agenda item to sign them at the beginning of our next meeting, on December 16th. Once we’ve signed the ground rules, we’ll post them publicly. These ground rules allow observers who are members of the PSU community to attend bargaining sessions, and we look forward to seeing you at next term’s first bargaining session, on January 6th, from 9am to 4pm. We’ll follow up with the location and agenda for this meeting.

The GEU Bargaining Team met with administration on Friday, October 28th, 2016, for our first bargaining session. We have established a preliminary set of ground rules for negotiations and a schedule of sessions for the remainder of Fall term, and will finalize a full set of ground rules in our next session. In the next session, we will also continue an ongoing discussion about the specifics of the information request we’ve submitted to quantify GAs’ working conditions, and begin a shared discussion of bargaining interests for future sessions. If you have any questions or want to get involved in the process, please reach out to the bargaining team at bargaining@pdxgeu.org.