UO calls for state mediation with GTFF

from the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (AFT Local 3544) acknowledges that the University of Oregon (UO) has decided to call for state mediation in ongoing bargaining negotiations despite its failure to substantively engage with GTFF’s proposals for a successor contract.

Although GTFF and UO entered the bargaining process on March 9, 2026, little progress has been made at the table. UO has repeatedly utilized stall tactics—by coming to several sessions with nothing prepared—and proposed status quo language to prevent any significant movement toward a new contract.

At the time they called for mediation, UO had failed to respond at all to nine of GTFF’s article proposals, including articles regarding protections for non-citizen graduate employees, workplace safety, and academic freedom. In their application for state mediation, UO summed up their view of the remaining unresolved issues as “everything.”

Of the 22 articles that UO did respond to, almost all were for status quo language, with proposed changes including extensive cuts to GE positions and support for caregivers. Most egregious is UO’s salary proposal, which offers GEs—most of whom already make below Eugene’s living wage—0% raises for the next five years.

When pressed by GTFF’s lead negotiator, Allison LaSalvia, on whether or not UO was proposing a livable wage for GEs, UO’s lead negotiator, Chris Meade, replied, “I’m not going to speak on that.”

“By calling for mediation to avoid engaging with the open bargaining process, the University of Oregon continues to devalue and disrespect the graduate employees who make the university run,” said GTFF President Carver Goldstein. “We’re disappointed to see UO continuing to take this path rather than coming to the table in good faith to meet the needs of GEs.”

Mediated bargaining sessions are closed to members of the bargaining unit not on the bargaining team, allowing UO to make proposals without facing the workers who those proposals affect. The most recent bargaining sessions in July each saw hundreds of GTFF members and supporters in attendance, a historic high for summer bargaining.

“GEs are faced with job insecurity, financial precarity, and general instability during a time where higher education has been systematically attacked,” said LaSalvia in an email to GTFF membership Wednesday. “In response, UO is choosing to do what they do best: protecting their administration’s pockets and personal interests at the expense of those to whom they have an obligation.”

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF) (AFT 3544) is the labor union representing 1,300 graduate employees at the University of Oregon. GTFF is an affiliate of the American Federations of Teachers. It was established in 1976.