Dear UO community,
As the University of Oregon and United Academics continue negotiating a successor collective bargaining agreement—our most recent session was this past Thursday—I want to share three observations about the process and the practicalities that UO contract proposals are based upon.
Bargaining is a negotiation process. It takes time to reach agreement.
Reaching an agreement on a labor contract is rarely simple or quick. Bargaining is often a complex effort requiring ongoing engagement over time. Over the last eight months, both parties have worked hard to express their perspectives and points of view, sometimes through difficult conversations. The university administration remains committed to working to find a path forward toward our shared goal of reaching agreement.
UO invests in salary and benefits that maintain competitive total compensation.
- UO faculty take-home pay is equivalent to about 98.3 percent of the average for public Association of American Universities (AAU) when adjusted for retirement contributions, payroll deductions for health insurance, and cost of living.
- Salary is only one component of a comprehensive investment that supports UO faculty members. Other benefits include generous retirement programs (both defined benefit (PERS) and defined contribution (ORP)) and comprehensive health insurance (PEBB), which has one of the lowest required employee premium contribution rates among AAU public universities. These programs are of significant practical benefit to all employees including faculty and their families.
- The UO salary offer maintains our comparative position in terms of total compensation with peer institutions while ensuring fiscal sustainability.
UO financial resources are finite and must support our entire teaching and research mission.
- Our revenue model is constrained in a very competitive market. The UO has a much higher dependency on student enrollment and tuition than other AAU public universities because it only receives 37 percent of the state funding per student average of public AAU institutions.
- Investments in teaching, research, and student success must be planned within the limits of our financial position and available resources.
- To meet our mission and maintain fiscal sustainability, increases to costs must be matched with increasing revenue, primarily tuition, or reallocating available resources.
Within these constraints, university administration remains committed to a compelling total compensation structure that retains and recruits faculty in service of our shared mission. We recognize the critical contributions faculty members make to teaching, research, and service, and we will continue to support them while also responsibly stewarding the institution’s financial resources.
Updates are posted on the HR website following each bargaining session, including proposals and counterproposals exchanged between the bargaining teams.
We value our faculty and remain committed to working with the UA bargaining team to reach an agreement.
Sincerely,
Chris Meade
Senior Director of Employee and Labor Relations
