From our colleagues at the Coalition of Graduate Employees at Oregon State University (CGE-OSU AFT Local 6069):
Our strike fund is live! All donations will go towards paying for the basic expenses of Graduate Workers in the event of a strike. Our goal is $50,000!
If you want to help support our efforts, please donate to CGE on Venmo @CGE-OSU. If we do not go on strike, all donations will be retained for a future strike. Please put “strike” in the Venmo note!
If you are in the Corvallis, OR area, please sign up to attend CGE-OSU’s practice pickets.
More information on what has led up to a potential strike:
On Wednesday, October 2nd, OSU and CGE presented their last, best, and final offers. They are not sufficient; the raises offered are small and not applicable to the entire bargaining unit. These small increases are nowhere near enough to keep up with the price of rent in Corvallis, which goes up by 10% every year for many graduates.
Also, OSU is still insisting on a 5-year contract cycle (as opposed to our current 4-yer cycle with partial reopeners every 2 years), meaning that contracts could not be renegotiated until 2029. Being able to renegotiate regularly is essential to the health of our union and future grads. They are attempting to destroy our institutional knowledge (most grads bargaining in 2029 will be ones that have never bargained before!) and remove our ability to adjust for world events (inflation was 8% in 2022! Who knows what will happen to the economy/housing in the next 5 years).
CGE is still committed to asking for a 50% increase to the minimum salary. We are asking for OSU to make a big step, but one that is absolutely necessary for the wellbeing of its graduate employees. OSU is refusing to help us.
Now that both parties have delivered our last, best, and final offers, a 30-day cooling-off period begins during which both parties are still obligated to negotiate. After this, if an agreement can still not be reached, CGE can vote to strike (which would be something all membership votes on, we will only do it if we choose to do it together) or OSU can impose their final offer.