Oregon State University and Greater Albany strikes continue; Benton County employees vote on agreement

Three strikes continue in the Albany-Corvallis area, with progress on some fronts and ongoing tensions on others.

In short, it appears to be a case of “one down, two to go.”

The most promising developments are at Benton County, where workers reached a tentative deal on a contract and return-to-work agreement late Tuesday evening. AFSCME represents more than 300 county workers, spanning multiple departments. As recently as Monday, the county was announcing how it was continuing services in the absence of striking workers, such as processing passports and marriage licenses.

The union has been pushing for higher wages and more safety measures, among other things. A summary of the contract’s changes includes raises up to 13.4% over the agreement’s three years. A ratification vote is set for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, there’s no end in sight for the two education unions on strike in the mid-Willamette Valley.

Oregon State graduate workers on Day 7 of strike

Graduate student workers at Oregon State University are continuing their strike over higher wages and the length of their contract at OSU’s Corvallis campus this week.

The Coalition of Graduate Employees, representing more than 1,700 graduate teaching and research assistants, has been on strike and picketing since Nov. 12.

There has been some movement from CGE and the university in mediation sessions that have taken place during the strike, but they have not been able to resolve all their differences.

CGE is prioritizing raises for its lowest-paid workers. Union leadership said the high cost of housing, food and transportation compounded by recent inflation has made living and teaching in Corvallis unsustainable.

“The lowest-paid grad workers are paid just a few dollars above the state’s minimum wage,” said CGE President Austin Bosgraff in a statement. “And to make matters worse, many of us aren’t even eligible for state food assistance, which we need to make ends meet.”

Last week, CGE lowered its ask for minimum salaries from a 40% to 30% increase in the first year, with annual 4% merit increases for returning graduate workers. The union’s proposal also changed from a four-year contract, with a reopener clause after two years to a three-year contract.

OSU’s most recent offer included a 10% increase to salary minimums in the first year, with an additional 4% raise over a four-year contract period. The university ratcheted down its wage offer for continuing graduate students from a cumulative 14.75% to 12.75%.

CGE leaders characterize the university’s offers as backtracking.

An OSU spokesperson said the university’s most recent proposal is lower than a previous time-limited offer — which expired the first day of the strike — but it is still higher than offers made before Nov. 11.

CGE leadership has said that many of its lowest-paid members won’t get the full benefit of a four-year contract due to the nature of graduate programs at OSU. The length of master’s and doctoral programs can vary between one and five years, with many graduate students obtaining a degree in under three years.

Discussions appear to be stalled. No new proposals were exchanged at a Tuesday evening mediation session. The next bargaining session between the two parties is scheduled for Friday.

It’s unclear how CGE’s strike is impacting undergraduate students and other faculty at OSU. Bosgraff has said that some classes were canceled last week due to the strike. An OSU spokesperson said the university has not hired temporary teaching staff to replace striking graduate workers.

Albany teachers call for school board resignations

Administrators for Greater Albany Public Schools seemed optimistic Tuesday night that they could reach a settlement with the licensed educators union, but it didn’t come to fruition.

Educators reported being close enough to make a deal but blamed a “habitual delay and lack of preparedness from GAPS management” within mediations preventing it.

“Although this has already been the longest strike in GAPS history, the district has dragged their feet to reach an agreement,” union leaders wrote in a recent press release, “and now has prematurely canceled school for two more days despite scheduled mediation with ample opportunity to resolve the dispute.”

The district has canceled classes until Friday. District Communications Director Becca Mallery said officials considered delays instead of full closures, but they felt this was the best way to allow for staff and families to prepare and have time to resettle when they do return to school. Students are off all of next week already for conferences and the Thanksgiving holiday.

Mallery told reporters in an email Tuesday evening that the district did not accept the articles as written that night and planned to counter the next morning. Part of the problem, as Mallery explained it, was the effects of changing high school schedules mid-year and addressing elementary prep time.

Mallery said the union wanted to make changes effective this year when the district does not have time or budgeted finances to hire more teachers to accommodate the extended prep time. So, she explained, if the district implemented it this year, they would have to cut classes.

“[Despite] the rhetoric out there, the Administration (principals, admin, directors, and the superintendent) care deeply about the teachers and staff in their buildings and are working on ways to heal after all of this is over,” she wrote in an email to OPB. “Emotions might be high, and feelings might be hurt, but in the end, they are constantly thinking about rebuilding the relationships they had before the strike.”

Wednesday marked the seventh day of missed school for Albany students. Without an agreement soon, they may soon match the 11 days students in Portland Public Schools had to make up a year ago when the teacher’s strike canceled school for most of November.

The Albany teachers union says they’ve lost faith in the school board members who have been involved in mediation in recent days, though they didn’t name the two members involved. They argue the board members have been “key in blocking” an agreement. The union has called on those board members to resign immediately.

Parent Stacey Bartholomew and community member Sheree Speaks-Mahi filed a letter-turned-petition on Tuesday as well, saying Albany families are offering a vote of no confidence in the school board and calling on them to resign.

This is distinctly different from what happened in Portland last November. There, the union requested board members get more involved to move stalled negotiations forward.

“We’ve been striking in the freezing rain as this School Board shows up again and again and again not only unprepared to negotiate but actively resisting reaching an agreement,” said Toby Zanotti, a 16-year math teacher at Calapooia Middle School who also serves on Albany’s teacher bargaining team. His statement was sent in a recent press release from the union.

“The students and families of Albany deserve better,” he said. “We have lost faith in this School Board to act with integrity in the community’s best interest, or fulfill the most basic requirements of their positions.”