For the past 11 months, UOSW has been pushing for an arbitration article in their union contract. An arbitration article would allow third parties a chance to look over an employee’s grievances and determine if the union contract was violated. 

UO has agreed to part of UOSW’s proposed arbitration article in mediation, but according to a UOSW spokesperson, Carolyn Roderique, there has been no agreement regarding arbitration for cases of harassment and discrimination. 

All other campus unions representing UO faculty, service employees, graduate employees, printing and mailing services and campus police list the right to arbitration in their contracts, with no exclusions for harassment and discrimination cases.

Gordon Lafer, a professor at UO’s Labor Education Resource Center, described the arbitration process as a “fundamental thing that makes a union contract worth anything.”

“It (arbitration) is not a new thing at the U of O, and… every union contract in the country that I know of has this, because without that you almost might as well not have a contract and not have a union,” Lafer said. “(If there is no arbitration article) you’re just trying to appeal to the employer who, if they don’t want to do something that you have, you have no enforceable rights.”

UO released a survey in 2022 with an attempt to improve workplace conditions and diversity for UO workers, according to a letter accompanying the survey. 

They found that 25% of respondents experienced either verbal, written, online or physical “harassing behavior” in the workplace. The survey is not put out regularly, and since 2022, there have been no similar workplace surveys and none focusing specifically on student workers. 

In response to the survey, UO created a “Response, Reporting and Anti-Discrimination” committee. The committee is led in part by Nicole Commissiong, chief civil rights officer and Title IX coordinator. 

Commissiong also helps direct UO’s Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance, the office that would help process harassment and discrimination grievances before arbitration, according to UOSW’s final offer. 

According to Forest Reszka, a student worker in the library who said he has experienced workplace discrimination because of his gender identity as a transgender man, the current internal reporting process for harassment and discrimination is not sufficient. 

“At the library, we deal with harassment from patrons and our managers… harassment and discrimination are important things and aren’t taken seriously,” Reszka said.

Reszka said arbitration would be a chance for student workers to receive “justice.”

“When we have a contract and UO violates it, it won’t just be UO reviewing things. There will be a chance for more justice,” Reszka said. “If we had arbitration, UO couldn’t just sweep things under the rug.”

UO Spokesperson Eric Howald said UO may be wary of accepting UOSW’s offer for an arbitration article because of the fear of possibly interfering with the privacy of a potential victim.

“The existing system leans into the privacy protections of the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance (OICRC). The OICRC processes provide safe havens that would not be part of arbitration. For example, if a student worker filed a harassment complaint, they would likely have to come face to face with the accused in an arbitration setting,” Howald said. “That is not necessarily the case with the OICRC process, and it limits the possibilities for the victim to feel or be intimidated. That is what the university wants to preserve in the union contract.”

According to Ashton Pressman, a bargaining team member for UOSW, the union is interested in attempting to resolve grievances with a worker’s supervisor or UO administration before involving a third party, but would like to keep arbitration as a “last resort” option.

“Arbitration is a last resort. It costs money, takes time (and) if we can figure it out in lower steps that would be good (because) arbitration is super expensive and time consuming for both parties,” Pressman said.

Pressman said stopping at UO’s OICRC is not sufficient.

“OICRC has failed many students and it is a process that fails students nationally. UO has a history of Title IX issues and ULPs (unfair labor practices) and… it goes to show they are not building a line of trust,” Pressman said. 

Without the arbitration section of the grievance process, Pressman said the contract would be “toothless.”

“Especially if you look (at) how times have changed post-Trump election, if you are looking at Title IX rights getting dismantled across the country, it is a whole legal mess, and this is an accountability mechanism,” Pressman said.

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