CGE hosted the winter term General Membership Meeting on Jan. 28th.  Members enjoyed a taco bar for dinner and home brews around the table as we all got down to business.  Two new officers were elected:  Jack Day (ran unopposed) as External Relation Chair and Wren Keturi (ran unopposed) as VP Communications.  Members also elected 18 delegates to attend the AFT-OR convention in April.  Several alternates were also chosen, and will attend the convention in the event that an elected delegate cannot serve.

We hope to see you at the next GMM during spring term!

Lauren Atwell collects ballots at the winter GMM.	Rodrigo Iriarte enjoys the taco bar and home brews!

Next Monday, February 20th, there is both an AFT-sponsored Lobby Day and a multi-union Strong Schools Rally in support of education at the state capital. Buses will be leaving, full of other union folks (from AFSCME, SEIU, and others), from Timberhill at 10:15am, to return at 3:45pm. This gets you to Salem in time for the rally. If you’d like to meet with legislators and others as a part of the AFT Lobby day as well, plan to arrive in Salem by 9am. For more information, to coordinate carpools, and to register, contact our VP of organizing, Ashley Bromley at vp_organizing@cge6069.org.

We are getting a late start to bargaining this year, which normally begins in January, partially due to the timing of winter break and partially due to training for a new style of bargaining that we hope to embrace. It is called Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) and is based on the premise that negotiations should focus on each party’s underlying interests, not specific proposal language.

To give a hypothetical example, instead of asking for a 10% increase in salary, we would say we are worried about the rising cost of rent in Corvallis, and the fact that we have not had a raise in 2 years, AND we are not offering competitive salaries compared to similar institutions. In many ways, this approach is not all that different than how CGE has approached bargaining in the past. We always justify the reasoning behind proposals we make- why they are both good for graduate employees and OSU as a whole. What we hope this will change is to get OSU to justify their response, instead of just saying “no.”

Our first meeting with OSU’s bargaining team was a IBB training put on by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. This was a free service offered by the federal government, and may also include having a facilitator during our first few bargaining sessions. It went well, and we asked OSU to consider continuing this style of bargaining and adapt our ground rules to reflect IBB principles.

IBB will be a new experience for CGE in bargaining, and we are hoping it will improve our relationship with OSU and the discourse of bargaining. It will also add risk to the bargaining process for CGE. It is difficult for us to know how committed OSU is to the process, and for us to commit we have to develop a certain level of trust with OSU’s team.

This is where YOU come in. We have made it clear to OSU that all regular bargaining sessions have to be open to our members. We need CGE’s members to keep us honest in this process to your needs, and you have a right to know what we are doing on your behalf. If you feel the structure of IBB is causing us to lose sight of our mission, and not advocate for the best possible contract, let us know. Remember, the membership has the final say in approval of any negotiated contract. Help us make sure we bring you something you approve of.

Even though OSU and CGE have not officially met, one major agreement has already been reached in contract negotiations. In past contracts Ecampus tuition has not been included in our tuition waiver. As the number of class offerings in Ecampus has risen and off-campus graduate students increasingly raised the issue, CGE has grown concerned that these credits are not included in the waiver. During the last round of contract negotiations, CGE fought to include Ecampus, but OSU refused to budge. Last fall, however, the Graduate School spearheaded an effort to start a one-year trial program giving all graduate assistants access to Ecampus classes under the standard tuition waiver.

Last week we finalized language with OSU on this subject and signed a Letter of Agreement that officially recognizes this program. The program will end next fall, although we hope OSU will agree that this is a policy that should continue into the future. As a term of the letter, CGE will be a part of the decision to continue the program, and will have access to the information used to make the decision.

For now, though, Ecampus tuition is officially considered part of your tuition waiver if you are on appointment as a graduate assistant. Please note that a $75 per credit fee for Ecampus classes remains, something will obviously work to eliminate or reduce in the future along with other mandatory fees. Attached is a copy of the letter if you are interested in the details.

Ecampus Letter of Agreement

Contract negotiations between CGE and OSU are about begin in earnest. Over the next few months the bargaining team will update this blog to keep you informed of progress and developments in this important process.

To start out, I’d like to introduce you to members of the current bargaining team: Allie Barner, Bethany Haug, Danny Ritter, Elizabeht Hardardt, Forrest Parker, Jack Day, Matt Loewen, Rodrigo Iriarte, Steffi Wafforn, Steve Wicks.

Also, Bret Seferian (CGE’s staff organizer) and Eben Pullman (our field rep. from AFT-OR) will be part of our team.

We will be doing our best to represent the needs of CGE’s membership, and are always open to your questions and concerns. Please email vp_bargaining@cge6069.org at anytime.

Thanks!