Oregonian
April 21st, 2015
Portland State University violated Oregon labor law last year by threatening to disable email access for unionized faculty members if they went on strike, according to an April 17 ruling by the state Employment Relations Board.
The board ordered PSU to cease and desist from such threats and to notify faculty members by posting and emailing copies of the order. The board declined to impose a fine.
Oregon law guarantees public employees the "right to form, join and participate in the activities of labor organizations of their own choosing," the board wrote. PSU's March 9, 2014, announcement that it intended to suspend email privileges of striking faculty "interfered with, restrained, or coerced" employees in the exercise of those rights.