As we break for a long, well-deserved weekend, we want to leave you with some exciting news from the front lines of bargaining.
This week, on Monday, August 26 and Tuesday, August 27, we concluded days 3 and 4 of bargaining with PSU. Days 3 and 4 of bargaining were a great success!
Around 100 PSU-AAUP members visited bargaining during the two days. Colleagues, your presence creates a wonderful bargaining environment! Having you in the room makes palpable the truth that our academic labor is the heart of the university! Please continue coming.
Next Bargaining Dates
Days 5 and 6 of bargaining are September 9 and 10, and we look forward to having another 100 of you come through. Join us in URBN 710 any time between 9-4:00 on those days.
Three topics were the focus of bargaining this week:
New job groupings and career tracks for Academic Professionals
Jointly, PSU-AAUP and PSU arrived at a shared framing of the issue that will guide what we are aiming to accomplish: To initially transition Academic Professionals into new job groupings, career levels, and career tracks, and to develop a career advancement process for APs within the new job grouping system. Career tracks for APs are now on our shared bargaining agenda!
Professionals Need Flexible Scheduling and Telecommuting
Our research and instructional faculty have a great amount of flexibility in deciding when and how we get our work done. Flexing our schedule and working remotely to accommodate family and professional endeavors outside the university contributes greatly to our quality of life and our job satisfaction. This autonomy is one of the hallmarks of a profession. Academic Professionals are the one group among our colleagues for whom there is not a consistent norm or practice across campus supporting flexible work schedules. PSU-AAUP and the team from the PSU administration had a probing and engaging conversation around our shared interests, and we have set the goal of jointly developing a framework for flexible scheduling and telecommuting for all professionals on campus.
Finally, we signed off on our first agreement, on investigator access to campus during university closures, which we reported on earlier.
Solidarity with our Classified Colleagues - Possible SEIU STRIKE
Faculty and academic professionals and classified staff make this a great university. Sadly, our colleagues in classified positions, who are represented by SEIU, have repeatedly run into a brick wall in their statewide bargaining for a new contract. We support these colleagues in their striving for a fair contract.
Our classified colleagues may be forced to go on strike around mid-September. If this happens, we will reach out to you with calls for solidarity and a list of all the legal ways we can support our classified staff. SEIU is an important partner of ours in a statewide higher education coalition. They have stood by faculty and academic professionals during our hard times, and we will honor that support in kind!
Before a potential strike, our Portland State SEIU colleagues are planning a rally for Tuesday September 17 at noon at the South Park Blocks. Please join them in solidarity! Wear your read shirts, lanyards, and/or just come and let them know that we are with them.