Some Things To Feel Good About!

The Northwest Labor Press has reported that  "Just hours before a strike was to begin, Oregon AFSCME reached tentative agreement with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) on a first contract for a unit of about 250 postdoctoral researchers."

Photo from The Northwest Labor Press

The STAND has carried reports that "Mount Vernon paraeducators, district reach tentative agreement after 2-day strike – A spokesperson for the paraeducators’ union, Public School Employees of Washington SEIU Local 1948, confirmed Thursday that the parties reached a deal. The agreement includes a 5.2% raise for all paraeducators this year, along with other perks" and that "UAW and Cornell reach tentative contract agreement, strike could end next week – The union said it was able to reach a deal on over 40 demands with Cornell leadership, including an average wage increase of 21% to 25.4% over the life of the four-year tentative agreement. Workers in positions with the lowest pay grades in the bargaining unit will receive significant pay raises in the first and second year of the contract, according to the UAW. The union said workers will remain on strike until a contract is ratified. The soonest Cornell employees could return to work is Sept. 3." The reports came from KING 5 and The Ithaca Voice.

Photo from The STAND and The City/Alex Krales.

The Stand has also carried reports that '"More Workers Are Filing For — and Winning – Union Elections Than in Any Year in the Past Decade – Workers are petitioning for more elections for union representation — and winning more of them – than any other year in a decade, with more than 75% of all private-sector organizing attempts from mid-2023 to mid-2024 resulting in union victories. Nationally, the growth in election petitions with the federal National Labor Relations Board reversed a decade of decline, according to the report, reaching “a level not seen since 2015,”' and the current win rates “outpace any since 2005.”' This report came from The City.

Firefighters’ Union Members wore “Trump is a Scab” shirts to 

welcome JD Vance to their union convention.

HuffPost is reporting that the Democratic National Committee has done "its first paid media buy at the unofficial start of the fall campaign season" with billboard ads calling Trump an  "Anti-Union Scab." HuffPort columnist Jonathan Nicholson says that the ads will run in "Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Monday as its first paid media buy to kick the season off" and that the ads will be in "English and Spanish, will show an unflattering picture of Trump’s face next to the caption “Trump’s an anti-union scab!” and will appear in a mix of high-traffic and other locations in those swing states."

Jane McAlevey on Democracy Now!---One of her last interviews

Kelsey Waldon - "They'll Never Keep Us Down" (Hazel Dickens Cover)

Sweet Honey in the Rock - Sojourner's Battle Hymn

Some Upcoming Union Member Trainings & Labor Solidarity Events And Needs

From Portland DSA:

Fighting the Wrongs of Management Rights (Labor Notes Stewards Workshop)
Tues. Sept. 10, 4:30-6pm
(This workshop has limited capacity and is for stewards and elected officers who work with stewards - not staff)
"Management rights" clauses have found their way into almost all union contracts. Learn why these clauses are so dangerous and, more importantly, how to make sure workers have a voice no matter what the "management's rights" clause says.
RSVP https://labornotes.org/events/2024/stewards-workshop-fighting-wrongs-management-rights

 

Ready to Strike -- Boeing (IAM 63)
Safety First !
Fri. Sept. 13, times TBA
Boeing Plant, 19000 NE Sandy
Sign this petition to let Boeing know: the community stands with the workers!

 

Labor Door Knocks for Our City Council Candidates (PDX DSA)
Final Stretch for Tiffany Koyama Lane (Dist. 3) and Mitch Green (Dist. 4)
Let's Power Our Working-Class Champions to Victory!
Sun. Sept. 15 (Mitch), Sat. Sept. 28 (Tiffany), Sat. Oct. 12 (Tiffany), Sun. Oct. 20 (MItch), Sat. Oct. 26 (Tiffany), Sat-Sun Nov. 2,3 (both)
REGISTER: https://tinyurl.com/dsaLaborDoors


Democratic Rights for Union Members (an on-line Labor Notes workshop)
Wed. Sept. 18, 4:30-6pm
The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act provides union members a bill of rights, requires unions to publicly disclose certain details about their governance, and regulates union elections and trusteeships of local unions by international unions. Learn how to use the law to build rank-and-file power in your union, and how to defend that power once you’ve built it! REGISTER: https://labornotes.org/events/2024/democratic-rights-union-members

 

Postal Protest - We Won't Be Silenced! (APWU, NALC)
Public Right to Comment at Postal Board of Governors Meetings
Better Staffing, Better Service, Good Contract Now!
Tues. Oct. 1, Noon-1pm
East Portland Post Office, 1020 SE 7th Ave
Sponsor: American Postal Workers Union local 128
Endorsed by: Communities and Postal Workers United,
National Association of Letter Carriers branch 82
RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/rally-for-postal-heritage-day-save-our-service-save-our-jobs/

 

Reed College Residential Advisors (OPEIU 11)

READY TO STRIKE for Fair Pay, Job Security, End Patrols 

ADD YOUR NAME: Tell Reed administrators that housing advisors deserve to work for more than room and food, but FAIR COMPENSATION too! Please follow the union at https://linktr.ee/URCHA

 

 

Divest Oregon from Israel Bonds! (PDX DSA)
Sign-on Letter - Bring this to Your Union !
Oregon Investment Council invests union pension funds in Israel bonds, Caterpiller, and Bank of America that fuel the genocide in Gaza.
SIGN ON (unions, organizations, individuals) https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/demand-oregon-treasury-comply-with-international-law-and-divest-from-genocide

 

Starbucks Workers United Rapid Response Network (SBWU)
Baristas will be bargaining a national foundational framework, an agreement that sets the standards for SBWU contracts across the country. The 10,000+ unionized Starbucks partners have come a long way to get to this moment – and we're determined to keep the momentum strong and fight to win at the bargaining table. By joining the rapid response network, you'll be on standby to mobilize quickly when called upon - this could look like calling into a store, holding a flyering event outside a store, organizing a solidarity standout, lodging customer complaints, etc. If your support is needed, it will likely be a tight turnaround time - so the form asks some specific questions to help gauge what level of capacity you and your organization may have for rapid response organizing. SIGN UP: https://tinyurl.com/SBWUrapid

Want to organize (a union) at your workplace?DSA & UE sponsor the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee
We will walk you through the first steps.
REGISTER https://workerorganizing.org

PSU Professors Open Bargaining Thursdays, Sept. 5 & 19; 8:30-4:30pm

From Portland DSA: 

PSU Professors Open Bargaining (AAUP-PSU)

They Say Cutback, We Say Fightback!
Thursdays, Sept. 5 & 19; 8:30-4:30pm
RMNC, 1600 SW 4th Ave, 316 (Mt. Rainier room)
The PSU administration is demanding a $3.5M reduction in wages while preparing to spend $284M in bonds and private philanthropy in new construction.
Show up in union gear, with signs: RSVP Here!

A union announcement reads as follows:

PSU & AAUP Bargaining - September 5

Thursday, September 5

8:30am-4:30pm

RMNC 316 (Mt. Rainier room)

You can RSVP for this and future In Person Bargaining HERE

Please view the Code of Conduct for Bargaining Observers here

Webinar info for online viewers:Online Zoom invites will be emailed to members ahead of the bargaining date! Zoom links are different for each session.

PCUN requests solidarity to restore the Climate Protection Program (CPP)!

From PCUN:

We need your help to restore the Climate Protection Program (CPP)! The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has announced extending the public comment period. If you haven’t yet had a chance to submit comments in support of the CPP, NOW IS THE TIME!

Your voice is crucial in this fight for a sustainable future. We cannot let the oil and gas industry determine OUR FUTURE! Make sure your voice is heard! Click here to submit a public comment now!

If you prefer to email your comments to DEQ, you can do so HERE!

Click HERE for a few email templates you can utilize as you submit your comments. The public comment period is open through Sept 27.

Our kids deserve a future clear from toxins and pollutants in the air they breathe and the water they drink.
¡Si se puede!

Railroad Workers United Labor Day Greetings 2024

We don't always agree with Railroad Workers United, but their Labor Day message below is a good introduction to their organization and way of thinking and to union solidarity in practice. There are plenty of good links in this post that will be of interest to our readers.

 

Whether you are off work or on the job, please take time to honor, remember and celebrate the rights and dignity of all workers this Labor Day — our day.

Bosses have never freely guaranteed overtime pay, vacations, paid holidays, sick leave, workers’ compensation, FELA, Social Security, retirement benefits, safe working conditions, the basic 8-hour day, or seniority systems. These only came about because workers organized and fought (some losing their lives) collectively for these things — and at every turn, management would dial them back if it weren't for our vigilance.

RWU solidarity member Peter Rachleff, a Macalester College Professor and co-founder of the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul, Minnesota reminds us of Labor Day's origins and its deep historical connections to the railroad worker story in his 2022 piece in the Union Advocate.

***

While we celebrate today, we must remember that workers rights are not simply a historical struggle, but an ever-present and ongoing one, and RWU's fight for working railroaders persists across a range of issues and organizing campaigns. To highlight just a few:

Coordinated Bargaining

As we continue to push for rail labor to present a united front against the carriers in the upcoming negotiations with the Class 1 carriers represented by the NCCC,

we do so knowing that none of the issues we faced in 2022 have been resolved. The raises have been wiped out by inflation and increased cost of living. Fatalities and injuries are up. Manpower levels are nowhere near where they were even just a few years ago. The companies continue to push through cuts wherever they can to prop up profits for their shareholders. If we are going to have a chance of reversing the decline, we need to draw a line in the sand and fight back. None of our individual unions or crafts are strong enough on their own, and if we bargain divided, it will allow the companies to pit one union against the other.

We are mobilizing rank-and-file, working railroaders to explain in their own words why these negotiations are so crucial, and why a coordinated bargaining coalition is key.

Public Rail Now

What began as one-off recurring discussions over the years about the anti-worker structure of the rail industry, and later became a resolution RWU adopted in 2022, has grown into a thriving, cross-partner, grant-funded Public Rail Now campaign, supported by a full-time organizer and part-time assistant organizer. Railroads' current profit-driven, billionaire class operations fail to serve the majority, jeopardize safety, and ignore the well-being of workers and communities, as demonstrated by devastating derailments like the one in East Palestine, Ohio in 2023.

Read our recent white paper published in July 2024, written by RWU/Public Rail Now researcher and RWU Solidarity member, Maddock Thomas, "Putting America Back on Track: The Case for a 21st Century Public Rail System," and join the campaign.

Supporting Working Railroaders Running for Rail Union Office

While RWU does not directly endorse candidates for rail union office, we strive to support rank n' file railroaders who do run, by sharing our perspective on what makes a truly pro-worker campaign. We recently shared our "12-Point Platform for Candidates to Consider When Running for Union Office," and encourage candidates to use it as a tool for foregrounding the working rail voice.

***

Labor Day is about all working people and our historic and gallant struggle – through strikes, boycotts, picket lines, sit-ins, occupations, and more – to further the cause of the working class. We have so much to make us hopeful, considering the ongoing wave of national organizing. Railroad Workers United is proud to be part of this great tradition of working people fighting back against the wealthy and powerful, the big corporations, and the Wall Street bankers. We invite you to join in the fight.

Solidarity Forever!

Nick Wurst
General Secretary
secretary@railroadworkersunited.org

Matt Weaver
RWU Organizer
organizer@railroadworkersunited.org

Will You Be Traveling Through The Ronald Reagen Washington National Airport Next Week? Please Read This.

Food service workers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport are asking their employer, Master ConcessionAir, for a fair process to decide whether to form a union. Workers will be holding an informational picket at the airport Monday and Tuesday next week!

All reactions:

1111

Solidarity with UFCW Local 555 at Fred Meyer locations in the Portland Metro area!

The following note comes from the Oregon AFL-CIO:

It’s time to show your support for union workers at all Portland-area Fred Meyer stores. Unitede Food & Commercial Workers Local 555 has called a weeklong Unfair Labor Practice strike. The action will begin on Wednesday, August 28th at 6am and go through Tuesday,September 3rd at 8am at all Fred Meyer locations in the Portland Metro area, unless a deal is reached that includes a resolution to the ULPs.

When any worker is struggling for the dignity and respect they deserve on the job, it falls on ALL of us to stand beside them every step of the way. We urge you to head to your local Fred Meyer and hold the line until management does the right thing. Pickets will be held at all locations during the stores’ operating hours.

A bargaining update from Local 555 under date of August 23 reads as follows:

August 23, 2024 7:39 pm

On August 23, your Bargaining Committee met with representatives from Kroger, Fred Meyer and QFC for our 5th bargaining session.

Since our very 1st bargaining session, your Bargaining Committee has made it crystal clear: we are here to bargain for every single Local 555 union-represented employee. That includes everyone in Oregon and Washington, everyone in the Meat, Grocery and Non-Foods contracts and everyone at Fred Meyer and QFC, including the newly organized units in Grants Pass and Springfield.

Up until today, the employer said they were here to bargain only for Portland and Bend, Meat and Grocery contracts, at Fred Meyer and QFC. Today, the employer changed their position – instead of being here to bargain for more of our members, they went back on their word and said they are here to bargain for even less – by putting forward a proposal that now excludes all of QFC, stating they will not bargain QFC until their contracts expire.

The employer’s proposal included yet another step backward: to freeze all new hires who are hired above the bottom step of the apprentice bracket, until they work the hours needed to continue to advance up the wage scale. This means that a new hire could be made to work almost 4 years without seeing a raise.

The employer’s proposal includes absolutely nothing to improve your pension – despite what Todd Kammeyer, President of Fred Meyer, said to you all in his robocall. They say one thing, and then do another. It now makes sense why they have no problem violating your rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

All of this is Kroger spitting in your face. They sent the message loud and clear: they do not care about you, they do not care about our communities, and they do not even care enough to pretend that they do. They have no problem misleading you and going back on their word.

Kroger continues their disrespectful proposal to take the money you need to secure your family’s healthcare to pay for one-time bonuses, and wage increases that leave you well behind grocery workers up and down the West Coast.

Your Bargaining Committee made our outrage very clear: we will not tolerate Kroger going backwards on their deals with us. As a result of their regressive proposal, Local 555 will be filing Unfair Labor Practice charges for bargaining in bad faith. We will continue to take all legal actions to hold them accountable to their commitments and the law.

We will be bargaining with them next week on August 29 and August 30. We will update you all then. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact your Union Representative.

The Communications Workers of America strike against AT&T in the Southeast is gaining strong solidarity from CWA locals and the labor movement.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) unfair labor practice strike against AT&T in the Southeast---the union's District 3---is gaining strong solidarity from CWA locals and the labor movement. Here are some photos from the strike and strike solidarity efforts, a link to a petition for you to sign, and a video from The Valley Labor Report.

Photo from AP News

CWA Local 7000 took a moment last weekend to support their local Starbucks Barista's Unions (05505 and 65352) at a 'sip in.'

They say: Support our local unions; we're all family!

They also remind us: Don't forget to also sign the petition for our own CWA siblings on strike in District 3!

https://action.cwa.org/.../support-striking-workers-at.../

CWA Local 7250 in Minnesota held a strike solidarity event.

CWA 7250 Officers and Stewards in Minnesota delivered a petition to AT&T AVP for Credit/Collections demanding the company bargain in good faith with Communications Workers of America District 3 and give the workers in the Southeast great wages with real raises, strong benefits, and dignity on the job. She agreed to convey the message to AT&T senior leadership. Local 7250 has been carrying out daily solidarity actions with the Strike.

A striker met with CWA Staff Marvin Wells and CWA Minnesota State Council President Shari Wojtowicz. The striker came to Minnesota to thank CWA Locals in person for supporting the ULP strike.

An Alabama AT&T Worker Talked With The Valley Labor Report

The union's bargaining report of August 24 says the following:

The parties continue to engage in mediation with a federal mediator, which we agreed to at the company's request. What we have made clear to the mediator through this process is that the CWA bargaining team knows what good faith bargaining with real company decision-makers looks like. While we are now meeting with company labor relations representatives, AT&T has yet to demonstrate that we are dealing with the real decision makers or that they are interested in real bargaining with the intent of reaching an agreement. It is a slow process to begin with, made slower by the company's tactics.

When they are "bargaining" (if you want to call it that), the positions taken by the company on important issues to our members are shocking. One example is the company's refusal to make realistic proposals on wages that reflect the economic reality for our members who work hard for a living or the reality of the company's huge profits. Another is the company's refusal to budge on improving working conditions for Wire Techs, who we now know they think of only as "second-class employees." Yet another is that the company has come to the bargaining table demanding that our members switch to a new healthcare plan. AT&T’s new healthcare plan will jeopardize the livelihood of our members, as it eliminates the prescription copayments we have today, and in place of those copayments, our members would be forced to pay the full price of prescriptions, until they meet an annual deductible of $6,600 for families.

So not only are the company's bargaining tactics shameful, what they are proposing when they are "bargaining" is shameful. Remember that what the company is doing at the bargaining table is happening while CEO John Stankey talks about the company's plans to "grow subscribers and revenues, while deepening customer relationships." Apparently, Stankey has forgotten that CWA members - union members - are the people who are responsible for AT&T's growth in subscribers and revenues, and who are the front line in dealing with its customers. If only Stankey could find labor relations professionals who understand the meaning of the duty to bargain in good faith, all of us -- workers, customers, and company -- would be better off.

Our bargaining team is working around the clock trying to reach an agreement. We met into the evening yesterday, and met with the company again today. We have told the mediator and the company that we are ready to meet at any time. What we hope is that the company will wake up to the reality that it can't continue to bargain in bad faith and expect to get a contract. What we know is that we can count on our members to continue protesting AT&T’s bad-faith tactics until they change. Like all CWA members across the country, we are inspired by the unity that exists within the membership across District 3. District 3 members are united on picket lines across the southeast and are making a difference. We will continue fighting for more in 24!

Strike photo from the AFL-CIO

A strike statement dated August 23 said:

We are CWA members on strike at AT&T Southeast because AT&T is refusing to engage in good faith negotiations for a new contract.

We are a big part of AT&T’s success, but we have been at the bargaining table since June, unable to make any progress because of the Company's bad faith bargaining.

The National Labor Relations Act requires companies to bargain in good faith. We have filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company and are on strike to protest the Company's unfair bargaining tactics.

We want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve and getting to work making sure every household and business in the Southeast has reliable high-speed internet service.

Tell AT&T to show us the respect we deserve and get serious about bargaining.

AT&T Southeast workers
Communications Workers of America

Solidarity Needed At Clark, Pierce, Bellevue, Skagit Valley, Edmonds, Olympic, and Wenatchee Colleges In Washington On 8/28!

This post came to us by way of Portland activist Jamie Partridge:

I'm writing to gather support for the Washington Public Employees Association (WPEA) classified staff at Clark College who are currently in negotiations with the state. Classified staff at Clark are who keep the College running. Sadly, compensation for far too many of our classified staff falls significantly short of a living wage, and the current compensation offer from the state (2%) does next to nothing to alleviate this exponentially growing problem.

Please spread the word and invite folks to participate in an informational picket/march down Fort Vancouver Way on Wednesday, August 28th (this Wednesday) from noon to 12:30 and 1 pm to 1:30 pm in front of Gaiser Hall (the building on the Northernmost side of campus on the east side of Ft. Vancouver Way) at 1933 E. Ft. Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA 98663 to raise awareness about WPEA's ongoing compensation negotiations.

This is actually a somewhat unique action ... a multi-campus action taking place on the same day at Clark, Pierce, Bellevue, Skagit Valley, Edmonds, Olympic, and Wenatchee.

See the WPEA message below for more information about this action and other ways you can help. Please invite your friends, neighbors and colleagues to participate.... 

Thank you for spreading the word!

~Suzanne Southerland, Clark County Association of Higher Education President


We are organizing an Informational Picket to raise awareness about our ongoing wage negotiations. The state’s current offer results in a pay cut after inflation, and we need to ensure that both staff and the public understand what’s at stake.

Information is POWER! Our goal is to secure a wage increase that reflects the rising cost of living and to send a strong message that we will not accept a pay cut disguised as an offer. Sign up for a picket time, if you cannot, sign up to talk to coworkers through the phone bank, learn the Union Chants, participate in sign making, but plug in where you can.

YOU are the UNION! You deserve a fair wage!

Stand together and be heard! Sign up to participate in the picket at a college by using one of the links below, invite friends family, students, staff, faculty, anyone who supports fair wages.

Light snacks and water will be provided by WPEA.

We are stronger together, always!


Bellevue College
Date: 8/28/2024
Time(s): 30-minute increments
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Location(s): The free speak zone near the cafeteria.

Clark College
Date: 8/28/2024
Time(s):
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Location(s): North GHL entrance, outside in front of culinary

Edmonds College
Multiple dates, times, and locations.
Learn more at: https://tinyurl.com/230wpea

Olympic College
Date: 8/28/2024
Time(s): 12:00 PM and 3:30 PM
Location(s): Main entrance by Warren Ave and in front of Building 5

Pierce College
Date: 8/28/2024
Time(s):
7:30 AM - 8:00 AM
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Location(s): At the northeast and south entrances of the Cascade building

Skagit Valley College
Date: 8/28/2024
Time(s): 30-minute increments
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Location(s): On the corner of North Laventure and East College Way

Wenatchee Valley College
Date: 8/28/2024
Time(s): 30-minute increments
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Location(s): 5th Street in front of college by administration building

Be sure to sign up for a picket time, action leaders at many locations will use picket sign ups to distribute communications to participants to coordinate things like sign making so we can prepare together and make our message loud and clear.

WPEA will supply some signs, but if you are participating in making them or want to make your own, expressing our message visually is just as important as our chants. When crafting your signs, focus on clear, bold statements that highlight the need for fair wages and expose the reality of the state's offer.

Signs should have 2-6 words on them and the words should be non-violent. Below are some suggestions to get you started, but feel free to get creative!

Prioritize Public Employees
2% is milk, not a COLA
HONK if you support Public Employees
Stop the pay cut!
Don’t leave us 30% behind!

Chants are a powerful way to keep energy high and attract attention during a picket. When starting a chant, make sure your voice is loud and clear—repeat the chant a few times until others join in. Each chant should last for about 1-2 minutes before switching to another, to keep things fresh and engaging. Feel free to rotate through a variety of chants so that the message stays strong and everyone remains energized!

“Push us down, we rise up!”
"No more pay cuts!"
"Fair wages now!"
"We work for you, now pay us too!"
"We serve the people, now pay us equal!"
“Stand up, fight back!”
“Stop the cuts, raise us up!”
“We work, we fight, we demand what is right!”
"Exploitation ain’t the way!, Workers gotta get fair pay!"
"When I say UNION you say POWER!"
"What do we want?, Fair Wages! When do we want it?, NOW!"

“Everywhere we go, (Everywhere we go),
People wanna know, (People wanna know),
Who we are, (Who we are)
So we tell them, (So we tell them)
We are the union, (We are the union)
The mighty mighty union, (The mighty mighty union)”

”Fighting for justice,(Fighting for justice)”
”Fighting for respect, (Fighting for respect)”
"Hey HEY, Ho HO, Poverty wages have got to go!"

Our power as a union comes from collective action. We need every member to participate so that we can demonstrate our strength to the employer. Without your involvement, the employer will continue to ignore our voices, and our wages will keep falling further behind.

This is our chance to stand together and demand the fair pay we deserve. Let’s make it clear that we don’t accept anything less. Your participation is crucial—together, we can make a difference!

In Solidarity,

WPEA UNITY Team

solidarity@wpea.org

HOLD LOGAN COUNTY, WV TO THEIR WORD: STAND UP FOR WORKERS RIGHTS!

 From the United Mine Workers of America:

Logan County Commissioners Office refuses to negotiate with the union and is choosing to spend TAXPAYER MONEY on union activities!

The workers have clearly expressed their need for union representation, a right that should be respected and upheld.

The UMWA contributes $35 million annually through retirees’ healthcare and pensions, playing a crucial role in Logan County’s local economy and the community.

We demand that you honor your commitment to the people who supported you and end all union-busting activities immediately. Recognize the UMWA and support the rights of Logan County workers to advocate for themselves. It is time to do what is right and just for the community you serve.

Please see this article from November of 2023 for context.

Support Reed College housing advisors and OPEIU Local 11!

Reed College housing advisors (HAs), who are represented by OPEIU Local 11, help, counsel, and support hundreds of students every academic year. They are the frontlines of helping ensure student success. And last year, Reed College added new job duties that required HAs to perform security rounds without offering additional compensation for the added work. Instead, during contract negotiations for their first contract, Reed College administrators have said it’s compensation enough that HAs receive a room on campus, which is a requirement for their job, and a meal plan.

Working for a room and food is not enough, and Reed College must step up to compensate its HAs fairly. HAs are asking for a $4,000 annual stipend to pay them for their hard work. This request is reasonable and recognizes the value of their work. It would cost Reed less than $200,000 per year, and it is similar to the stipends that other institutions on the East Coast have agreed to pay their student workers (many who are represented by OPEIU Local 153).

Help support the HAs’ fight for fair compensation at Reed College sending letters to the college president, vice president of student life, director of residence life, dean of students, director of human resources and vice president of finance. Many of these administrators are sitting across from the union at the bargaining table! You can send a digital letter with the press of a button – or customize your own – online at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/reed-housing-advisors-deserve-more-than-room-and-food/