During the first bargaining session, we asked OSU when we can expect to have their initial proposals. Given that CGE filed the intent to bargain on December 1st 2021, we awaited a reply; perhaps a date or a number of weeks. Alas, bargaining with Admin is never that simple.
OSU hasn’t written any initial proposals, even though they have had over two months to prepare and that is literally the job they get paid thousands of dollars to do. They plan on waiting to see what CGE brings to the table, and then playing defense.
But hey, if Admin wants to play dirty, we have no issue calling it out. Instead of preparing any of their own proposals, they are trying to use CGE’s diligence to their advantage to silence our demands and cut their costs.
With 78 participants in the first Zoom bargaining session, we all saw it. We need to continue to show up and show solidarity with our B-Team so that Admin knows we see what they are trying to pull.
Since CGE has been doing their homework, we seamlessly presented changes to Article 25 (Health and Safety). We added some common-sense protections for Graduate Employees that are necessary, given the lack of prompt and meaningful response from OSU on the global COVID-19 pandemic. They have proven to us that if it’s not in our contract, we can’t expect OSU to act in our best interest.
The response? OSU seemed confused about why Graduate Employees don’t want to subject themselves to injury and harassment for the sake of University operations. They needed to hear specific examples of existing atrocities, such as the orange water that comes out of the sinks of eye washing stations in some labs where Graduate Employees are required to perform their work, to justify the added language and protections.
OSU also tried to undermine our proposal for mandatory anti-harassment and bullying training, citing Article 24. It’s obvious that they thought they could make an easy strike, trying to claim “redundancy”, but since OSU didn’t do their homework, they failed to recognize that Article 24 is a response to incidents of harassment, discrimination, and bullying, while the language that CGE has proposed aims to prevent this stuff from happening in the first place.
Our badass CGE B-Team volunteers their time, on top of their own classes, research, and teaching duties, to fight for a fair contract for all of us. OSU’s team gets paid to reject our proposals and trim them down to the bone. They’ll have a much harder time dehumanizing us if they know that everyone is watching. Be sure to tune in to the next session, via Zoom, on Feb 17th from 12 pm – 2 pm!
