University of Oregon, Graduate Employees Reach Tentative Agreement

• Graduate employees have reached a tentative agreement with the University of Oregon.
• The new contract includes increasing the salary floor for all graduate employees and retroactive raises.
• The deal was reached two days before over 1,400 graduate employees represented by the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation planned to go on strike.

Graduate employees at the University of Oregon (UO) reached a tentative agreement with the university just two days before they planned to strike.

Some 1,400 graduate employees (GEs) are represented by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) as the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF).

The union had been bargaining with the university administration since March 2023. A tentative agreement was reached in November over articles considering paid leave, expense reimbursement, and health insurance. However, GTFF deemed the wage offers from the university insufficient, saying that the proposal did not meet the expectations of our members.

On Jan. 5, the union announced its intent to strike starting Jan. 17 if an agreement was not reached. Around 90% of members voted on the strike authorization in the fall, with 97% of the voters approving it, according to the union.

This deal simply could not have been secured without the incredible energy, real passion, and diligent preparation that our members devoted to building a credible strike threat, Cy Abbott, GTFF co-lead negotiator, said in a press release sent to BestColleges. Our members put all of their power into this fight, and won.

GTFF has just TA'd a truly historic contract two days before a strike—thanks to the enormous energy & passion our members have devoted to building an overwhelming strike threat. Our members put all of our power into this fight & that is why we won!https://t.co/alFgUGvnrz pic.twitter.com/rzO8JJuHbE

— Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF) (@GTFF_3544) January 16, 2024

What's Included in the Agreement

In a message to members, the union said the contract would enable our members to live with dignity in the Eugene area and benefit GEs at the UO for years to come.

The three-year contract will raise the salary floor for all graduate employees and will apply raises retroactively to September 2023.

The agreement includes 10% raises in the first year for those who earn less than $50,000 and 4% raises for those who earn more than $50,000, followed by 4% increases in the second and third years for both salary categories.

Additionally, the deal includes 31.81% raises on salary minimums for GEs at the first level of appointment, 16.68% for second levels, and 10.5% for third levels, with across-the-board 5% raises in the two years following.

The union also highlighted wins including improved childcare resources and anti-discrimination protections, as well as four weeks of additional family and medical leave in their message.

Graduate employees will continue to work while a vote is held to ratify the contract.