So this post kicks off the round of what we call "CBA Bargaining" as opposed to "Health Care Bargaining." From now until roughly March, we'll be bargaining with the university over wages, fees, and working conditions.
I've heard from a few of you that your departments are freaking out about the possibility that we might get raises and that would destroy their departmental budget. The bargaining team is well aware of the current state of the UO's budget. The way we see it, it is our job to go to the bargaining table and tell the UO what GTFs want and need. Conversely, it is the UO's job to tell us what they can (or cannot) afford to do for GTFs along those lines. The people who represent the UO are generally pretty good at what they do, so you can rest assured that if cuts to fees or raises do come down the pike, the UO has the money to pay for them.
One of the main ways we determine what kind of raises GTFs need is to look at comparator data. The UO has eight AAU-designated comparator schools. We've been looking at this data over the last decade as we bargain with the UO. We started out about 30% behind the average earned by grad employees at our comparator schools, but have caught up to the point where we're only 5% behind.
How this data will mesh with our thinking about fees and budgets is still to be determined, but I thought I'd throw the comparator data up here when we had it. Maybe you can tell us what you're thinking about wages and fees in light of this data.
