University faculty, including tenure and non-tenure-track employees, are close to realizing their goal of creating a faculty union after almost two years of planning and deliberation.
The union is in the middle of public employee card-check voting, a procedure that began on Jan. 9 and offers faculty the opportunity to sign in support of unionization. The card-check process lasts 90 days and needs a simple majority for approval.

“We’re hoping to have the card-check done by the end of the term,” said Deborah Olson,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Deborah+Olson@@ union representative and special education instructor. “We’re actually shooting for a higher number. We want more than 50 percent plus one so we have a real clear statement that this is something that the faculty wants.”
United Academics, sponsored by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) as well as the American Federation of Teachers (AFT),@@http://unitedacademics.org/@@ is a faculty union that focuses on ensuring a quality work environment for faculty to better serve the students of this state. Many faculty at the University believe that a union is needed in order to bargain for fair and equitable conditions.
“We (tenure and non-tenure faculty) don’t feel that we have a voice in setting the priorities of the academic mission of the University,” Olson said. “We are interested in the quality of the education we are providing to our students.”
She and others are worried that their interests are not being heard at an administrative level and that this union will better represent them and their needs.
“It would provide clarity and an opportunity for the next generation in how to find excellence in the face of the challenges that face state universities,” University professor Louise Bishop said.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Louise+Bishop@@
Although there are some who aren’t interested in unionization, union representatives say that most faculty members are excited about the prospect of a faculty union.
“I believe that most faculty are pretty enthusiastic, and I think that they see a real need so it has a good chance,” said Scott Pratt,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Scott+Pratt@@ union representative and philosophy professor. “Because of the structure of labor unions, it gives a certain kind of weight to the bargaining unit to actually have a say in how priorities are set.”
He says that a union will allow the faculty to have a larger stake in making decisions, setting budgets and other fiscal and administrative issues that the University faces. The union will be able to make demands and have authority that other groups — such as the University Senate — don’t have.
“This union would give another venue for shared governance in one that doesn’t turn on internal structures alone because it’s set in the context of labor law,” he said.
Faculty across campus will be signing check-cards throughout the rest of the term, and a final decision will be made at the end of the 90-day period. At that point, the state will either approve or deny the request for the University to unionize.