OSU graduate employees who have been denied access to the COBRA subsidy by OSU can appeal the decision by going to this website and clicking the second link in the appeals section.  We encourage graduate employees who have been denied to pursue an appeal.

In response to the budget crunch and comments from members, we’ve put together a completely anonymous survey we hope will provide us with information on the work graduate employees do.  We know it’s late in the term, but the survey is petty short, and we would really appreciate you taking a few minutes to fill it out.  The more respondents we have, the better the data will be.  Please pass this on to other graduate employees in your departments.

Questions can directed to unite@cge6069.org.

On Wed., May 20, six CGE members went along with Dennis, our Organizer, back to Salem to testify to the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education in support of HB 2508, the bill that would roll universal and program-specific resource fees into tuition for grad employees in OUS.  You can listen to the testimony here (the hearing on HB 2508 begins around 34:40).

Those who testified did an excellent job, and it was fairly clear that most of the committee members sympathized with our cause.  However, we still have an uphill battle to convert their sympathy into a willingness to approve a bill that is not without financial impact on the state and OUS.  There are still ways this might happen, though.  For example, at this hearing, State Rep. Larry Galizio from Tigard suggested potentially tying passage of HB 2508 to another bill related to interest collected on tuition revenue that OUS would like to see pass.

We will continue to keep everyone up-to-date on the progress of HB 2508, especially if there is further opportunity for us to offer input to the legeslature.

Twice per year, AGEL (the Association of Graduate Employee Locals, a loose network of graduate employee union locals with the American Federation of Teachers) holds a conference for graduate employees.  This spring’s conference is fast approaching, and will be held just down the road in Eugene on June 4-7.

AGEL is a great opportunity to connect with other grads around the country who are doing union work.  There are a bunch of interesting topics on the docket for this conference: Working within AFT, principles of democratic unionism, health care reform & grads, bargaining in a budget crisis (hey, that one looks useful), the Employee Free Choice Act, dealing with threats to Academic Freedom, and more!

Most of the workshops will take place on Friday, June 5th, and Saturday, June 6th, with social events each evening.  If any CGE members are interested in attending the conference (it’s free and travel costs will be reimbursed), you can get a copy of the registration form here.  If you have questions, email CGE’s Bargaining VP, Rob Hess, at vp_bargaining@cge6069.org.

As many of you might already be aware, our long-time Business Manager, Liz, is leaving at the end of the academic year.  Liz has done a tremendous job in the four years she has been here, not only handling the union’s finances, but providing invaluable institutional memory and advice to officers and other staff on all aspects of CGE.  It is safe to say that CGE, as an organization, would not be where it is today without her support.

As a result of Liz’s moving on, CGE will soon be hiring a new Business Manager.  The job posting can be found online at Craigslist:

http://corvallis.craigslist.org/npo/1159063083.html

Please pass this on to anyone you think would be a good fit for the position; while the Business Manager duties are the most important part, interest in organizing is a big plus.  The CGE officers and staff are able to answer any questions and can be contacted about this at info@cge6069.org.