After the rally outside of Johnson Hall, the GTF union and the administration are digging in for spring term.
The Graduate Teaching Fellowship Federation is expected to meet with the administration twice in the upcoming week. Members hope to close the gaps on issues surrounding minimum salaries, paid leave and dental care. The past contract ran out on March 31, but the GTFF leaders have yet to hold a vote to authorize a strike or call for a federal mediator.
GTFs insist they are on the bottom half of the pay scale for similar universities compared to cost-of-living in their respective cities. According to the federation, graduate assistants at the UO make $264 per month less than UO’s calculated cost of living. Graduate assistants at Oregon State University earn $13 below OSU’s cost of living.
Complaints about paid leave came to a head recently in an open letter written by a women and gender studies GTF posted April 28 — and since been removed for ongoing legal reasons — that detailed the pitfalls. The GTF had been hit twice while riding her bicycle in Eugene.
The first incident occurred near the end of the term. The second time happened near the start of fall term. In her letter, she describes an undergraduate veering out of an alleyway in an SUV and hitting the GTF on her bicycle.
“His SUV T-boned my right knee, the impact of which made my femur into a battering ram that crushed the top of my tibia,” said the GTF, who spoke anonymously due to pending litigation. “Instead of attending the first day of lecture, I was waking up from surgery.”
Shawna Meechan, a political science GTF and a member of the GTFF bargaining team, says graduate assistants involved similar incidents are often forced to take time off from work if they aren’t well enough to make it into the office.
“If you have a serious accident, you are faced with the option — first of all — to try and find someone to cover for you and depending on what your assignment is that might not be easy,” said Meechan.
There is also the question of how much work GTFs are allowed to do. Many graduate assistants may only work 20 hours a week and are contracted to abstain from taking other jobs because the university wants academics to take priority.
“One of the things that the university believes is important to keep in mind is that GTFs are students first,” said Kassy Fisher, a member of the UO bargaining team and assistant dean and director of finance and administration for the graduate school. “We have to allow them to continue focusing on their studies.”
GTFF members say that offering competitive wages will be better for the university in the long-run. Friday’s bargaining session saw philosophy professor Scott Pratt plead to the administration that qualified graduated assistant candidates are rejecting the UO in favor of schools offering better pay.
Fisher, however, maintains that the university is not struggling to lure candidates.
“We’re operating in a competitive environment and we have to recruit the best graduate assistants we can,” Fisher said. “If you look at total compensation, the UO is offering competitive support and I think we are able to recruit some very, very strong academically oriented students.”
The GTFF and the UO will sit down for negotiations again at 12:30 p.m. on May 7 in Pacific 16.