Coalition of Graduate Employees

This FAQ is intended to explain why some graduate employees are not included in the current CGE bargaining unit and to let you know how we are working together to build the power of grads by expanding the bargaining unit to include all graduate employees. It is designed tohelp you better understand the legal terms and rights involvedso you will feel comfortable answering questions when you talk to fellow graduate employees about supporting CGE.

Which graduate employees are currently covered by the union contract?

The Coalition of Graduate Employees is the union or “bargaining representative” for most graduate employees at Oregon State University. Our union contract with the university covers all graduate employees whose work OSU considers “in service to the university.” Graduate employees who are covered by the contract are in the bargaining unit (we often call them “in unit” as opposed to “out of unit”). Being in unit means a graduate employee is covered and entitled to all of the rights and benefits of the CGE contract.

The term “in service” is subjective, but the university usually interprets this term to mean that the work of GTAs is in service and the work of GRAs is not in service because they are performing research primarily to fulfill an advanced degree requirement. At CGE, we feel that the work of GRAs is invaluable to the university. OSU is a research institution and it heavily relies on the research work of graduate employees.

Usually the determination of whether a graduate employee’s work is in service or not is made at the department level. Withboth GRAs and GTAs, some appointments arein the unit and some are out, though the reasons why are often unclear. OSU does not consistently apply any particular interpretation when it evaluates whether a graduate employee’s teaching and research is “in service” or not.

How does CGE advocate for graduate employees not in the bargaining unit?

CGE has made it a firm policy to be as inclusive as possible and has bargained for improvements in compensation, fee reduction and health insurance that all graduate employees have enjoyed. A graduate employee not in the bargaining unit can also become an Associate Member. Associate Members are involved with setting bargaining priorities and their words are given as much weight as any member’s at meetings about bargaining (or any other subject), and they can serve on the bargaining team that negotiates the contract. Associate Members can vote for officers and serve as officers at any position. In fact, CGE’s current president is an Associate Member.

Before our organizing campaign started last fall, twenty percent of graduate employees not in the bargaining unit were Associate Members, demonstrating their support for CGE and their acknowledgement that CGE’s work positively affects their compensation, benefits and working conditions.

Why is it important to be covered by the union contract?

While CGE bargains and advocates for all graduate employees, we can only enforce our bargaining accomplishments for graduate employees covered by the contract. For example, if the university decided next year to rescind the fee differential or reduce the stipends of graduate employees not covered by the contract, those graduate employee would have little recourse.

What can we do about it?

Many graduate employees not currently in the bargaining unit approached CGE last year because they wanted to organize for collective bargaining strength and leverage to win better compensation and working conditions. With the help of CGE and its parentunion, the American Federation of Teachers – Oregon, an organizing campaign is underway. Besides securing protection for “out of unit”graduate employees, this campaign will increase the power of all graduate employees to collectively bargain for better compensation, benefits and working conditions. A union of 1,600 graduate employees is stronger than a union of 900 graduate employees.

Last fall term a solid majority of those graduate employees excluded by the university from the current bargaining unit signed a mission statement supporting their right to organize and join CGE. In January we will start collecting membership/representation authorization cards from graduate employees. What does it mean to a graduate employee when they sign one of these cards? It means that they want to be part of a union so they can fully participate in collective bargaining and that they want CGE to be that union! Once a strong majority of graduate employees not in the current bargaining unit sign these cards, we will ask OSU and the Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB) to recognize CGE as the union for ALL graduate employees at OSU. These cards are only presented to the ERB. The cards are never disclosed to Oregon State University, its administrators, supervisors, faculty advisors, etc.