The graduate employee union filed a grievance directly to UO President Michael Schill on Aug. 20 in response to unsafe working conditions graduate employees experienced on campus during summer term.

A grievance, according to the union’s collective bargaining agreement, is an allegation of a violation of their contract. A grievance is a formal process with predetermined steps for both parties.

The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation filed the grievance directly to Schill as well as Missy Matella, senior director of Employee and Labor Relations and Kate Mondloch, interim dean of the graduate school — making it a Step 3 Grievance, filed to the highest level of the university. 

“Despite the precautions the University has attempted to put into place concerning COVID-19,” GTFF wrote in the grievance, “there have been repeated mask and social distancing protocol violations, questionable work practices, and a lack of training and equipment provided by the University.”

Grievances are fairly common, Courtney Tabor, GTFF’s vice president for grievances, said. Going directly to the university with a formal complaint of a contract violation, however, happens less frequently. Because the impact of unsafe working conditions was so widespread and Tabor heard from dozens of GEs, she said, GTFF chose to file at the highest level.

Related: Masks, labs and surveys: GEs speak on summer and fall term concerns

Tabor, along with Michael Marchman, GTFF staff organizer, will represent the union in the grievance process.

GTFF last filed a grievance directly to the university in Oct. 2019, when almost 350 GEs — 15% of them — were not paid on time.

The current grievance states the unsafe working conditions experienced over the summer violate Article 10, Section 2 of the collective bargaining agreement. The section states UO must provide a “safe, clean and healthy environment” for employees on campus and in university-controlled facilities in accordance with state, local and federal laws.

Article 10, Section 2 also states UO must provide paid training on workplace health and safety, as well as free personal protective equipment.

The current grievance lists seven demands for the university:

1. Update COVID-19 protocols to be compliant with state mandates

2. Provide campus workers with Personal Protective Equipment (i.e., multilayer, research-based masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, OSHA-compliant disposal bins)

3. Weekly voluntary COVID-19 testing for all authorized persons on campus

4. Communication to campus of free asymptomatic testing availability

5. Immediate and consistent monitoring and enforcing preventative protocols (i.e., face coverings)

6. Effective communication about positive COVID-19 cases, including buildings/locations affected by positive cases

7. Mandatory paid training concerning COVID-19 and workplace safety during a pandemic

This grievance is unique, Ellen Kress, former GTFF president and grievances committee member, said. Kress believed the grievance is in the middle of the university’s narrative surrounding COVID-19 — that it will be safe to bring people back to campus and partially reopen for fall term.

In reality, she said, campus is already open and the people who have been working there are already feeling unsafe.

“We’re filing this grievance on behalf of the people that the university sort of swept under the rug or refuses to acknowledge that are already on campus,” Kress said.

Tabor believed the grievance is unique because it’s an immediate problem GEs have faced during the summer.

“A lot of our grievances, it’s okay that it’s not immediate — we can get retroactive back pay, or something like that,” Tabor said. “But we can’t retroactively give people masks.”

The university distributed free cloth face masks to employees and provided disposable masks on campus throughout the summer, Kate Mondloch, vice provost and graduate school dean, said.

According to an Aug. 20 Around the O article, UO distributed two free face masks to employees, prioritizing those on campus now or in the near future.

So far, GTFF has had an informal meeting with Employee and Labor Relations at the graduate school to discuss the grievance, Kress said.

“It seems like they are interested in problem solving with us, but they only have so much capacity as grad school and Employee and Labor Relations,” Kress said. She represented Tabor during the meeting.

The next step will be a formal grievance hearing with whomever Schill appoints to represent him, Kress said. At the hearing, Tabor said, they will discuss if the issue is a contract violation. Next, the two parties will negotiate back and forth and, ultimately, the university will provide a response.

If the university doesn’t agree, Tabor said, GTFF can bring in other lawyers to look at the case. If it does agree, UO will come up with remedies that may or may not align with the grievance’s demands, she said.

A grievance is a long process, she said, and doing it remotely could slow it down. Even the most optimistic timeline probably would not finish until winter term, she said, but it’s possible that some demands could be implemented while the process is ongoing.

“It’s hard to expect how immediately the university will respond to it,” Tabor said. “I know that we are going to push that some of these things need to happen faster than others. There’s really no reason that they can’t put gloves in every classroom or trash cans for masks disposal outside of every building. There’s no reason that that has to take several months.”

GTFF understands not all its demands can be implemented immediately, and that the situation on campus will change in the fall, according to the grievance.

Kress is “cautiously hopeful” the university will work with GTFF. She thinks both the union and the university are interested in the safety of employees and students on campus. However, she is concerned UO’s definition of a safe workplace is broader than GTFF’s definition.

Mondloch, the vice provost, said the university’s safety planning efforts will evolve as the disease and best practices change, and UO continues to follow state, local and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

“The university is committed to fairly and objectively reviewing the GTFF’s grievance,” Mondloch said. “Through the grievance process and the employee safety reopening committee, the university will continue to work with GTFF leadership on how to address their concerns in a manner that continues to prioritize the safety of our campus community.”

Kress said she hopes GTFF’s demands will be met, but recognizes the time constraints and overall limitations of the grievance process.

“Grievances are only one chunk of what the GTFF does, and they’re only so effective,” Kress said. “What’s most effective is empowering workers to get together in their departments or in their buildings or in their area to stand up and problem solve for themselves. The GTFF is always here to support people who need support in organizing and defending themselves.”