Long time, no post

It has been a long time, but bargaining really only got cooking last Friday.

The GTFF presented our economic proposals to the UO. It went about as can be expected. We gave them a little presentation, they asked questions, we gave them our proposals. It's possible that some of you think that perhaps bargaining is a no stop give-and-take of conversation studded with proposal, counter-proposal, and further counter-proposals until the two sides come to some agreement. It may work that way somewhere, but it does not work that way here at the UO. Here we propose, they caucus to ponder, they return to tell us that they need more pondering time, then next time we see them they inform us that our proposals were unacceptable. Well, sometimes they counter propose, but it is not really a two way engagement of ideas/rhetoric. We do the same to them though. It can be really frustrating to throw out four or five really good reasons why your proposal makes good sense, only to never have any of those ideas engaged with. But like I say, we do it to them as well, so I can't complain.

Our economic proposals were quite hefty. We asked for a lot. (but then GTFs deserve a lot, natch.)

For wages, we asked for 10% raises over two years. This is what GTFs got in the last contract and the contract in 2002 (I think it was 2002, prove me wrong). So, for us, a 10% raise request is not a huge deal. It may be to the UO, but not for us.

On fees, we went for it all. Complete fee relief. All fees for GTFs, gone. I must say the UO's reaction to this proposal was muted at best. I had hinted earlier in the session that it was coming, but I expected more out of them than the placidity than I got. Maybe that means they are already on board.

We also asked for a child care benefit. I gave some impassioned words about how we have had language in the contract for the last seven-and-a-half years where the University and the Union have totally agreed that child care is totally important and something must be done, but nothing has gotten done. I vowed that this would end this year and something would get done.

All-in-all, we asked for something more than a million and something less than 2 million dollars in new/expanded benefits. The UO currently spends roughly $14 million a year on GTFs, so a 10% or so increase. Not over the top.

We also proposed a neat little solution to the problem of GTFs getting paid late. We proposed that if a GTF signs his or her contract 10 working days before the start of the term and that GTF does not receive their check on time, then the GTF gets an automatic $100 credit in their student account and another $100 every 5 days the check is not available.

This Friday, we offer the rest of our proposals, then on February 1st the UO responds with their economic proposals. Keep an eye on the GTFF webpage for room and time.

Here's a copy of our presentation to the UO. This information helped inform our proposals.

Article 21 [Salary]

Almost there ~ Stay on target

Background facts:

Based on D-list given to the GTFF on 10-5-2007

	Month	Term	Academic Yr
Average GTF Minimum Wage	$923.65	$2,770.95	$8,312.85
Average Wage	$1,142.69	$3,428.07	$10,284.21
Average Minimum FTE		.3673
Average FTE		.4029
GTFs earning minimum	558
GTFs earning above minimum	529

1. Comparator Data

GTF wages are roughly 9.5% behind those of our official comparators.

[Insert chart here] [Chart won't insert] [You'll have to trust me]

2. Poverty

The average GTF earns $10,284 or just above the poverty line. The average GTF earning the minimum wage earns $8,313 or $1897 less than the poverty line.

2007 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Persons in Family or Household	48 Contiguous States and D.C.	Alaska	Hawaii
1	$10,210	$12,770	$11,750
2	13,690	17,120	15,750
3	17,170	21,470	19,750
4	20,650	25,820	23,750

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 15, January 24, 2007, pp. 3147–3148 and http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07poverty.shtml

3. Food stamps

According to the State of Oregon’s DHS Food Stamp Calculator -- https://apps.dhs.state.or.us/fsestimate/ -- a single GTF who earns the minimum wage, pays $450 a month in rent and pays his or her own utilities would qualify for an estimated $93 a month in food stamps.

4. UO calculations

Based on information found at http://financialaid.uoregon.edu/Cost.htm

	Monthly	Academic Year	Full Year
Off-Campus Housing
Monthly: Rent, $440, Food, $293, Utilities, $139	$872	$7,848	$10,464
Books and Supplies	$87.50	$1,050	$1,050
Personal Expenses	$277	$2,496	$3,328
Minimum Fees	$69	$618	$618
Total	$1,306	$12,012	$15,460
UO Recommended Laptop (Law students)			$1,650

The average GTF earns $163 less per month than the UO estimated cost of attendance. The average GTF who earns the minimum earns $382 less per month than the UO’s estimated cost of attendance. The average GTF who earns the minimum earns about half of the yearly cost of living for attending the UO.

5. Ratio of labor to pay

Based on information from 2006 found at: http://rm.uoregon.edu/pi_2006_sum_report

	03-04	04-05	05-06
GTF FTE	389.4	397.1	394.1
Total Instructional FTE	1226.3	1231.2	1242.2
	31.75%	32.25%	31.73%
GTF Salary	$8,975,282	$9,174,258	$9,286,078
Total Instructional Salaries	$59,640,816	$60,096,489	$63,792,741
	15.05%	15.27%	14.56%

Article 22[Fees]

Onerous ~ Burdensome

1. Membership

Fee relief was voted the number #1 goal of the membership of the GTFF in every survey we did.

In the past year, many departments that did not raise their wages because they did not have to. This means that hundreds of GTFs saw no increase in benefits, despite the fact that inflation caused real wages to go down by 3% or so.

2. Give backs

GTFs face a myriad of fees:

Type of Fee	Fee
Resource Fee	$206
Matriculation Fee	$250
Studio-based Art & Architecture Fee	$125
Non Studio-based Art & Architecture Fee	$75
Computer Science	$125
LCB	$600
Music	$100
Education	$50

Source: http://www.ous.edu/dept/budget/files/AY07%20Fee%20Book_Rev_072507.pdf

Our estimation is that GTFs pay roughly $1,033,000 in fees to the UO every year. These fees represent a return to the UO of approximately 11% of the total salary earned by GTFs.

GTFs can pay as much as $2668 a year in fees alone.

The minimum amount of fees a GTF pays is $618 per year. This represents 6% of the average GTF’s annual salary and 7.4% of the annual salary of a GTF who earns the average minimum wage.

Fall fees are particularly burdensome because the first check most GTFs collect are half-checks. A new GTF who earns the minimum average would have a fee bill of at least $456 due October 1, while collecting a $462 check.

3. Fee Reform

The undergraduate deal to roll some fees into tuition did not include graduate students. Graduate students were excluded because rolling graduate fees into tuition would not be “revenue neutral.”