Classified workers at Oregon's 7 public universities are bargaining with administrators for a new contract. Members of the Service Employees International Union rallied on the University of Oregon campus Thursday.
The Oregon legislature boosted funding for higher education by 18 percent in the session that wrapped up Monday. The University administration isn't budging on union demands for cost of living and step pay increases. Johnny Earl is a custodial coordinator at the U of O. He's chief bargainer for SEIU local 085.
Earl" "We've sacrificed a lot over the last 8 or 9 years. There's been freezes and furlough days and no one's blind and can see that the University is not in the dire state it was and neither is the state of Oregon."
The Collective Bargaining Agreement for U of O Classified employees ended June 30th.
A spokeswoman for Oregon's public universities says classified workers are integral but that they're trying to balance student tuition and needs of all university employees.
