Lauren Atwell, Mindy Crandall, Ashley Bromley, and Rob Hess (L to R) deliver the 2011 Brew-Off proceeds to Mike Gibson (center) of the Linn-Benton Food Share.

Those of you were there know this: the 2nd Annual CGE-GTFF Civil War Brew-Off was an unqualified success.  In fact, we can now quantify exactly how successful it was.  We raised $1450.57 (donated in the form of a giant check; see above) and 350 lbs. of food for the Linn-Benton Food Share.  This was a really nice way to be able to contribute to the Corvallis community at large, so thanks to all who attended.  We’ll see you and all your friends next year.

A final reckoning of the event goes something like this:

• People in attendance: more than 200 (we had a good deal to drink and thus had trouble keeping an accurate count; we figured this out based on the proceeds)
• Food collected: over 250 pounds (this goes to Food for Lane County, since the GTFF won best beer)
• Proceeds: $577 above the total cost of the event (this will go to the Linn-Benton Food Share)
• 120 commemorative pint glasses given away within: 30 minutes of opening the doors
• 11 batches of home brew consumed by: 9:00 (a large beer run was made at 8:45 to fuel the event until 11:30)

This all exceeded our wildest expectations.  Thanks to all who came out and made the event a great success!

*** LOST and FOUND ***

1) There was an older model black LG flip phone lost during the evening. If you know where it is, please contact us!

2) There was a black zip-up hoodie left behind at the end of the night (Merona brand, size XS). If it’s yours, please contact us.

3) There is a spare Monterey Vineyards wine key in the CGE office.  If it’s yours, contact us.

4) There was a women’s orange rain jacket lost during the evening.  If you’ve seen it, contact us.

*** LOST and FOUND ***

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The arbitrator’s written decision lays out that, because of the way the money from the summer session tuition base is used, the charge is really tuition and not a fee and is thus subject to remission under the tuition waiver guaranteed by our contract. Because arbitration hearings are generally precedent-setting, this reasoning may actually become a useful tool for CGE in fighting fees going forward. The decision itself is an interesting read, and I’d recommend it for anyone who has the time (it’s about as long as a regular academic conference paper).  You can download it below:

• Arbitrator’s decision on the 2008 $34 Summer Session Tuition Base case

There are about 130 or so grad employees who were in the BU during Summer Session 2008 who will be reimbursed under this decision.  Unfortunately, since OSU is not legally bound to apply contract protections to those not in the BU, the approximately 230 grad employees who were out of the BU during Summer Session 2008 and were forced to pay the $34 charge will not be reimbursed under this decision.  (This is just one more example why the OSU administration should agree to include all grad employees in the BU, as CGE has proposed in bargaining this year.)

If you are in the class of employees who will be reimbursed as a result of this decision, you will soon receive a check for $34, regardless of whether or not you are still at OSU.  Those in the affected class of employees should also expect to receive more detailed individual correspondence regarding this matter from CGE in the near future. If you believe you should be reimbursed and do not receive a check within the next few months, please contact CGE.

At the table, the two bargaining teams exchanged lists of the articles each plans to open for negotiation this year. The articles being opened by each team are listed after the jump.

After the exchange of articles, the CGE bargaining team broadly outlined our bargaining platform and explained that our prime focus this year is to make progress where our own goals align with the long-term goals that have been articulated by the OSU administration in recent months.

Specifically, we believe that the teaching and research performed by graduate employees at OSU is foundational to all of OSU’s long-term goals. However, as the CGE bargaining team explained, major changes will be required in the way graduate employees are compensated for their good work in order to achieve those goals. In particular, as long as the minimum guaranteed graduate employee salaries at OSU fall next-to-last when stacked against the salaries earned by graduate employees at OSU’s 11 comparator institutions (with a minimum salary at 0.49 FTE more than $350/month less than the average minimum at those comparator institutions), as long as hundreds of graduate employees are paid below-poverty-level wages, and as long as the average graduate employee at OSU doesn’t even earn as much as OSU’s own estimated cost of attendance, OSU will find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain the kind of talented graduate employees whose work will be required to drive OSU to achieve its long-term goals.

The presentation given by the CGE bargaining team outlining OSU’s long-term goals and providing statistics such as the ones above on OSU grad employees’ salaries is available here:

• CGE 2010 Bargaining Narrative

Based on the articles they plan to open, it does not appear as though the OSU administration will ask for major givebacks from grad employees this year, which is a relief for the CGE bargaining team. Unfortunately, the OSU administration’s bargaining team did not go so far as to articulate their own vision of how grad employees’ work fits into the university’s long-term plans or of how we should be compensated for our contributions, but that may simply mean they are happy to allow CGE to drive progress for the grad employees we represent. While we will not hesitate to do so, we are always happy when OSU can provide a strong vision of how graduate employees fit into the larger university structure and can put forth contract proposals that make that vision a reality.

CGE plans to open the following articles, which were chosen to improve conditions for graduate employees as outlined in the CGE 2009-2010 Bargaining Platform:

• Article 2, Recognition
• Article 9, Appointments
• Article 11, Salary
• Article 12, Tuition Waiver
• Article 28, Health Insurance

Despite being able to open four articles, the OSU administration chose to open only one, plus two of the letters of agreement that are attached to our contract:

• Article 8, Union Rights
• Letter of Agreement on Fees
• Letter of Agreement on Differential

In opening Article 8, the administration explained that they wish to try to fix problems with the procedure by which CGE informs the university about errors in the amount of dues deducted from members’ paychecks (problems which have already resulted in CGE advancing a grievance to arbitration). We are not yet certain what changes the administration will propose to the two letters of agreement related to fees.