Feelings of frustration and uncertainty are rising among classified staff at the University of Oregon with the absence of the Heroes Act, a federal COVID-19 relief package.
This lack of federal support and clarity for these workers — most of whom are the lowest-paid at UO — is causing layoffs, as well as doubt about whether or not they will get their jobs back or if they will get leave without pay status, according to Melissa Unger, executive director of Service Employee International Union Local 503 in Eugene.
“We’re just frustrated with the whole scope of things because we think this package matters,” said Unger. “It matters to people who are unemployed, it matters to people who are employed, it matters to making sure that we can get out of this recession and recover from the moment that we’re in.”
According to the House Committee on Appropriations, the $2.2 trillion Heroes Act would provide additional funding for education, COVID-19 testing, tracing and treatment and would restore unemployment benefits.
The House passed an updated version of the Heroes Act in a 214 to 207 vote on Oct. 1, according to a press release by the committee. The Senate has not passed the bill.
“We have health center workers that are classified, we have custodial staff, we have food service,” said Stephanie Prentiss, president of SEIU Local 85 at the university. “And they actually have suffered the most, frankly, the food service.”
UO Associate Director of Employee and Labor Relations Chris Meade agreed that food services have been hit the hardest. According to Meade, fewer dining staff are needed because there are fewer students on campus.
Prentiss said that without the Heroes Act, classified workers at UO will struggle to make ends meet. She said workers are having to put their health at risk just to keep their jobs, and if they wake up feeling sick, some workers don’t have any choice but to go to work.
“Having the Heroes Act to supplement their income, so that they can actually get back to normal or back to where they’re not robbing Peter to pay Paul to keep their car, to get to work or to put food on their table, it’s crucial,” she said.
While the Heroes Act would provide some much-needed financial help, the university is taking steps to help classified workers. During a town hall on April 2, President Michael Schill announced he would take a temporary 12% pay cut and other administrators would take a 10% cut to ease financial challenges.
The university also implemented the Extended Benefits Program, which “provides leave without pay and continuation of health insurance for those eligible, and it maintains employment status with UO,” according to the university’s human resources website. This would be different from a traditional layoff.
According to Meade, 252 classified employees have participated in the program since May, and there are seven currently in the program. In an email, Meade wrote, “The University continues to look for ways to re-employ those who have been laid off by finding other work assignments on campus and will recall those employees who were laid off when positions come available for a period of up to two years.”
Classified workers are not currently receiving hazard pay, Meade wrote, because UO has provided the necessary protective equipment and training for employees to work.
However, UO Custodial Services Coordinator Johnny Earl said staff should still receive hazard pay for working in areas where there could be high exposure to the virus, such as Barnhart Hall where students that test positive from the dorms are sent to isolate.
Even with the personal protective equipment custodians are currently provided, Earl said hazard pay is warranted because custodial staff are unsure about the safety conditions of working on campus.
“We’re using a great disinfectant, Oxivir, right. You’re wearing gloves and you’re protecting yourself,” he said. “But then again, who knows, right?”
Earl, who is also the chair of higher education bargaining for SEIU Local 85, said that should students move into classrooms, discussions with UO about hazard pay will still continue and the university hasn’t ruled out hazard pay for when that time comes.
“There has been no offer of hazardous pay for us to [sanitize classrooms], but since we have not been asked to do that, I’ve made [it] very clear to them, if we’re asked to do that, you are going to pay us hazardous pay,” said Earl. “And I have not heard direct pushback from that.”
Prentiss said she hopes the Heroes Act is passed sooner rather than later. With coronavirus cases rising in Oregon and on campus, she said the act should be passed by February or things could get worse for classified employees.
“They’re going to turn around and say, we got to lay you off again,” said Prentiss. “And we’ve got employees right back in the same boat that haven’t gotten out of the hole they were already in before.”
