This piece reflects the views of the authors from the GTFF Contract Action Team and not those of Emerald Media Group. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to [email protected].
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Does the University of Oregon believe that academic labor has become less valuable?
Recent contract negotiations between the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF) and the UO seem to suggest that the answer is yes. Despite hours of testimony from Graduate Employees (GEs) attesting to the financial insecurity perpetuated by our current contract, the UO has continuously failed to offer reasonable wage proposals in response to historic inflation rates and a rising cost of living.
For anyone familiar with basic math, it may seem obvious that any “raise” below the rate of inflation would be an effective pay cut. In order for labor to retain its relative value, wage raises must match or exceed cost of living increases.
Yet, despite their illustrious credentials, it appears that the UO administration is struggling to grasp this simple concept. They have insulted hardworking GEs with offensive proposals to raise minimum salaries by 4%, 2.65%, and 2.65% over three years; and they have doubled down on an untenable status quo by proposing 0% adjustments for all other GEs.
These offers represent a serious degradation to the value of graduate labor. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation has risen a cumulative 18% since 2019 when the last GTFF contract was ratified. The cost of living adjustments we won in our last contract (3% per year for minimum salaries, 1.4% for all others) simply do not cover the relative value that GE paychecks have lost over the last few years.
The UO’s proposals do not even meet the rate of inflation for 2023 alone, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported at 4.9% in April. Nor would their proposals begin to approach the staggering 14.6% annual rental increases authorized in Oregon last year.
Unlike the carefully researched first-year raises of 30% (to minimum GE salary) and 16% (to other salaries) that the GTFF proposed—proposals created using data from the MIT living wage calculator, federal inflation statements and Eugene housing reports—the UO’s opening proposals seemed random at best. They declined to provide any particular rationale for these pitiful offerings, which may be because they were not particularly well-researched, or perhaps because there isn’t any research that would justify them.
Even faculty members have complained about how low GE wages prevent them from conducting the work of the university. On May 19th, Professor Kate Mills from the Department of Psychology explained that she’s been unable to recruit to her lab because other institutions offer higher pay to prospective students. She argued: “Failing to increase these wages impacts university’s ability to recruit and maintain faculty. Grad students don’t want to come here if they can’t afford to live… Meeting the demands of the GTFF would improve the overall functioning of our university.”
On the topic of recruitment, we at the GTFF can’t help but wonder if the UO also informed prospective graduate students of their meager 0% to 4% raise proposals when they were using our union as a lure to attract new GEs.
The UO must recognize the value of the graduate labor that keeps this campus running, just as they recognize the value of executives like incoming President Karl Scholz, whose base salary is a whopping $725,000 annually. Scholz’s contract also includes the benefits of living rent-free in the president’s mansion and receiving a $1,200 monthly vehicle stipend. Those perks stand in stark contrast to the UO’s insistence that our employment contract shouldn’t address issues like housing and transportation.
By failing to respond adequately to record inflation and the local housing crisis, the University of Oregon fails in its responsibility to its employees. The historic upsurge in recent labor organizing across the United States—including graduate and faculty strikes at Temple, Rutgers, Michigan and the entire UC system—has exposed ugly cracks in the higher education sector. Other universities have proven themselves more committed to bloated administrative salaries and corporatized policies than to their workers, their communities and even their academic integrity. Will the UO follow suit?
We invite members and supporters to attend the next bargaining session on June 16th from 12-3PM in McKenzie 221. Both GEs and faculty allies are encouraged to submit testimony about their experiences, and to follow our bargaining blog and social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) for updates throughout the process.
The GTFF calls upon our community to stand with us in saying “hell no!” to UO’s status quo!
Solidarity forever,
GTFF Contract Action Team
