Graduate students rallied in front of Johnson Hall on Monday to advocate for higher wages and greater job security as the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation begins to bargain with the University administration.
The demonstration was part of Campus Equity Week, a nationwide drive for greater equality in salaries between adjunct faculty, graduate teaching fellows and tenure-track faculty.

“The fact is, we’re not paid a living wage,” GTFF President Chris Goff said.
The graduate students listened to speeches, chanted slogans and marched around campus. Many held signs, including one that said, “I work for UO, therefore I am poor.”
ASUO President Maddy Melton spoke in support of the union and said tight budgets are no excuse for low salaries.
“If you can find money to build a new business school, you can find money to pay people properly,” Melton said at the rally. “I think you all need to tell the administration that you need to get equitable pay for the work you do.”
Goff echoed her statements, saying the University can do more to provide better pay for GTFs.
“We recognize that we’re in a budget crisis, and we’re not going to get the whole pie,” he said. “But there’s room for progress to be made.”
Many of the complaints concerned a perceived lack of job security for GTFs. One graduate student was particularly unhappy about term-by-term employment contracts.
“It provides the opportunity for the University to be arbitrary or capricious if you don’t get along with your prof,” said Eric Lindgren, GTFF vice president for University relations.
Lindgren said the University was violating its contract with the GTFF, which specifies a preference for year-long contracts.
“There are (University) departments that aren’t following the contract,” Lindgren said.
The union’s contract states: “Whenever feasible, GTFs will be employed year-to-year rather than term-to-term where the need for performance of specific GTF duties can be reasonably expected to continue. GTFs should not be employed term-to-term in order to determine whether they are adequately qualified for a GTF position.”
Richard Linton, the University administrator most familiar with the negotiations, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Goff echoed Lindgren’s concerns about job security.
“How hard is it to teach when you’re worried about where your next job will come from?” Goff said.
Goff urged the University administration to bargain in good faith with the union, and said GTFs are an integral part of the University.
“The University needs to realize how important we are to this campus,” Goff said.
He added that GTFs teach 27 percent of the classes at the University.
Money, of course, figured prominently into the union’s concerns. One GTF said graduate salaries at the University lag far behind comparable institutions.
“We need a 30 percent raise to make us average,” GTF Liz Harlan-Ferlo said.
Junior Jim Lowry said if the GTFs want more money, they should be given more money.
“It sets a good precedent for other grad students who are considering coming here,” he said.