union

On January 11th, 2024 a troupe thick with signs and hoodies filled the EMU green as chants for a living wage emerged from the middle of the circle and radiated to the buildings. This was the final bargaining session for the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation’s (GTFF) rising push to an equitable compensation for their vigorous work. The EMU green was strategically chosen to be in sight of the EMU room upstairs where GTFF’s bargaining team was currently negotiating the final expressions of GTFF’s proposed contract.

On Friday, October 13th, the UO chapter of the GTFF (Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation) held a mock funeral to mourn the death of UO’s Public Promise, followed by a practice picket outside the Knight Library. From @gtff3544 on Instagram: “UO has failed its commitment to the public by refusing to pay education workers fairly, and we’re fighting to change that.”

On Friday, October 13th, members of the Eugene and University of Oregon community gathered in front of the PeaceHealth University District Hospital to protest the proposed closing of the only major medical center proximate to the U of O and downtown Eugene. The nearest hospital for nearly 200,000 residents will now be Riverbend Hospital in Springfield, which is nearly an additional 15 minute journey compared to the current commute.

On October 20th, University of Oregon Student Workers (UOSW) and the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF) held a joint rally outside Johnson Hall to demonstrate their collective power and call for solidarity between undergrad and grad student workers. For GTFF, the rally marked the latest stage of their bargaining process with UO for a new contract. Their main demands are across-the-board salary increases to address unprecedented cost-of-living increases in Eugene, better resources and support for international students and caregivers, and better discrimination protections.

The clock has nearly struck midnight, and the fate of student workers within the University of Oregon will soon be decided. Either we will have a union, or we will not. As the deadline to collect signed union cards approaches, the University of Oregon Student Workers has buckled down for the final stretch of the race. During this critical time, we ought to understand the implications of both our victory and defeat within this struggle.

On February 3rd, at around 9pm, a 50-car Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic materials derailed. Tons of vinyl chloride and other harmful chemicals involved in the making of plastics, spilled into the area surrounding the town of East Palestine and the Ohio River. The residents of the town were then evacuated and the EPA and local government began evaluating what kind of cleanup measures needed to be taken. It is an environmental catastrophe of epic proportions, yet all guilty parties have begun the effort to minimize it and deny that such a thing happening was inevitable.

Photo by Amanita Minute For the first time in 50 years Undergraduate Student Workers at the University of Oregon have initiated the process to organize a union. Using the ASUO Street Faire as a kickoff, University of Oregon Student Workers began a card signing campaign on Week 3 of fall term. To file with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries the campaign will need fifty percent of UO Student Workers to sign a card designating the union as their legal bargaining entity.

The fundamental truth of all human history is our striving towards ever greater freedom, prosperity, and justice. In the history of our own country, this is embodied by everything from John Brown’s attempted slave uprising in 1859, to the national protests that occurred during the Occupy movement to today, where a nationwide unionization movement is gaining momentum. But why unionize? What is the point? Simply put, to unionize is to push for economic democracy, to assert our voices as working people and to gain control over our lives.