UO strike scheduled for Sept. 28; workers need your help

from Lonnie Douglas, Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network

Why are we going on strike? 97% of represented staff voted to authorize a strike starting Sept. 28.

Who are we? We are the workers who keep our universities running. We support students. We prepare food. We maintain buildings and technology. We keep campuses clean and safe.

We deserve a contract that allows us to support ourselves and our families. We deserve to live with dignity.

• More than half of us worry about running out of money before our next paycheck.
• 28% of us are going into debt just to cover rent and groceries.
• Nearly one in four of us worries we won’t have enough food to make it to payday.
• Meanwhile, presidents of Oregon public universities are making nearly $1 million a year.

University administration is offering a contract to classified workers with wages far below the actual cost of living, driving more university workers into poverty and onto state assistance.

SEIU 503 workers need your help. UO management is proposing four years with no annual raises for classified staff, all while inflation is hitting record highs.

Annie McVay, UO alum and administration specialist, said: “Management has ignored that SEIU classified staff worry how they will pay rent, put gas in their tank to get to work, and put food on the table for their families. Proposing no annual raises, or raises that take multiple years to earn, is unacceptable given inflation and the rise in the cost of living. Wages should reflect the hard work these employees put in each day, and they should be able to live with dignity in the communities they call home.”

Rieley Umphress, UO catering sales coordinator, said: “Most of my co-workers I work with in dining have to have two jobs to support their families when they work at the universities, and they’re claiming SNAP benefits because they cannot afford to provide for themselves or their families.”

It’s past time for university management to get serious about settling a fair contract with classified staff. Management is still proposing a wage freeze for the classified workers who keep Oregon’s campuses running. No COLAs.

They are proposing nothing but takeaways. Send a message to UO President Karl Scholz now: Settle a fair contract. We demand a contract that respects union work and pays enough to live on. We will support university workers to not settle for anything less.

Tell university presidents: It’s time to settle a fair contract with classified workers today.

For more information, visit the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network website, solidaritynetwork.org.

ESSN connects unions, organizers, and community groups to build solidarity.