Faculty at Oregon's largest university rallied for a fair contract
1000 students, educators gather in advance of possible strike at PSU
2/27/2014| Portland, OR: The American Association of University Professors of Portland State University (PSU-AAUP) rallied today for a fair contract that defends quality, affordable higher education. Nearly 1000 people attended the rally, including students who organized a class walkout, community members, and other campus workers. Faculty declared impasse on Monday after 10 months of stalled negotiations with the Administration, allowing for a potential strike in the Spring term if no agreement is reached.
AAUP represents more than 1,200 faculty and academic professionals at PSU, a quarter of whom are laid off every spring with no guarantee of rehire in the fall. This lack of faculty stability is one of the core issues educators are fighting in their contract negotiations.
“I’ve been teaching in the general education program at PSU for four years. Like many faculty I’m laid off each year and rehired. I have no way of knowing if I’ll have a job in the next year. The instability is hard on my family, bad for my students and hurts the quality of our academic programs. This fight is about more than this contract. It’s about the future of PSU,” David Osborn, University Studies instructor.
Though mediation between PSU faculty and the Administration continues next week, the declaration of impasse moves the university closer to a potential strike. Key bargaining issues are retaining educator-led higher education, reversing the erosion of faculty stability and equitable pay.
PSU faculty are part of a national trend of educators organizing around community issues - like class size, budgets, and student debt, in addition to issues spelled out in their contracts. Students have been an active force at PSU, Oregon's largest university in the heart of downtown Portland. They began organizing around student debt, a student-centered budget, and a cap on excessive executive salaries, and organized a campus-wide walkout in support of their faculty for the rally today.
“PSU faculty and academic professionals have stayed silent for too long as the proportion of the university budget dedicated to instruction has steadily dropped. Student debt pays the bills at PSU, and we must have a student-centered budget. We’d prefer to be working with our Administration to provide our students and the city with the best university we possibly can. But if the only way to defend high quality, public higher education at PSU is to strike, we’re prepared to take that step,” Mary King, Economics Professor and President of PSU-AAUP.