Hi Everybody,
We'll be bargaining on Tuesday, May 21st, 12-3 in Market Center Building, Room 650 - please come to observe for any part of that time that you can!
Our VP for Bargaining, Ron Narode, will be facilitating, and presenting PSU-AAUP proposals for Articles 17 and 18, on Academic Professionals and Fixed-Term Faculty. This means issues like longer contracts for Fixed-Term Faculty and Contract Protections for APs; pay and benefits will be dealt with later in Articles 30 and 31.
Come on out for an Info Session called by Together 4 PSU on Weds., May 22nd at Noon in SMSU 333 - not the Park Blocks - given the likelihood of rain. OUS is demanding that SEIU-represented workers, our co-workers on the administrative and facilities staff, pay 10% of their health care premiums, double what we are all paying now. U of O faculty are facing the same demand at the bargaining table. Let's get together with classified staff, students and part-time faculty to hear bargaining & legislative updates and flyer the campus to stand together for affordable, high quality, public higher education. More
Last week, the Bargaining Support Team met on Weds the 15th, and worked on plans for member activation, and an on-line survey of the past 5 years at PSU. A Strike Strategy Committee will meet in ASRC 620 on Weds, May 29th, from Noon to 1 - please join us if you can help. We don't want to strike, but we will be prepared to, if we have to. For more info on the Strike Strategy Committee, contact Michael Chamberlain or Gary Brodowicz.
Also last week, PSU-AAUP sponsored a jam-packed panel discussion on Faculty Concerns with regard to expanding on-line education at PSU, including academic quality, intellectual property and work-load issues, all of which emerge in OSU's 10-year experience with on-line programs. PSU-AAUP will be convening a committee to work on intellectual property issues, chaired by Michael Clark, and considering other projects. We'll keep you posted!!
Save the date! Thursday, May 30th, from 4 - 7 in the SImon Benson House, PSU-AAUP will be holding a bi-annual meeting, celebrating 35 years of advancing the concerns of PSU faculty and APs and updating everyone on bargaining and bargaining support activities. I hope to see you there! More
No Need to Contribute for a Legal Challenge to Proposed PERS Reforms:
According to the primary attorney working on PERS issues, some people have received a phone call soliciting contributions for a legal challenge to the recent PERS legislation. He doesn't know whether this was a scam or a good faith effort to gather support for a legal challenge, and says that every PERS member has a right to challenge the legislation whether singly or in a group. The PERS Coalition - of which PSU-AAUP is a part - is planning a challenge to the legislation and does not expect members whether retired or active to make a separate contribution to fund that challenge. If members are contacted they should make certain that they have a clear understanding of the legal effort they are supporting. prior to making any contribution.
Best,
Mary King
President, PSU-AAUP