April 23, 2025 - Tentative Agreement Ratified
Members of the PSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (PSU-AAUP) voted overwhelmingly (96%) to ratify a new contract with the University. The contract provides competitive wages, enhanced job security, professional development support and measures to enhance faculty well-being. The University and PSU-AAUP are actively engaged in assembling the new contract document and preparing to implement the newly agreed-upon terms of the contract. For reference, all agreements are posted below.
March 25, 2025 - Tentative Agreement - Joint Statement
Portland State Community,
We are pleased to announce that Portland State University and the PSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (PSU-AAUP) have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The agreement is subject to ratification by PSU-AAUP members.
This agreement, reached after many hours of hard work and negotiation, provides for competitive wages, enhanced job security, professional development support and measures to enhance faculty well-being. The contract settlement recognizes the important contributions of our AAUP-represented faculty members while contributing to the university’s future sustainability and success.
We appreciate both bargaining teams' hard work and dedication in reaching this resolution. AAUP members will soon have the opportunity to vote on the agreement. PSU and PSU-AAUP thank all faculty, staff and students for their patience and support throughout these negotiations, which we believe have resulted in a tentative agreement that meets the needs of faculty, staff, students and the broader university community.
Shelly Chabon, PhD.
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs
David Kinsella, PhD
Professor of Political Science, PSU-AAUP Vice President for Collective Bargaining
The final set of tentative agreements reached on March 25, including the economic package:
All Tentative Agreements
31 sessions of bargaining, totaling approximately 262 hours.
March 11,12,18,19, 24 2025
The University and AAUP met in mediation sessions with the state mediator to resolve all open topics.
March 4, 2025
University Statement About Ongoing Negotiations With AAUP
March 3, 2025
Compare PSU & AAUP's Final Offers
Thursday, February 20, 2025 - AAUP Declares Impasse
Today, February 20, the union representing our full-time faculty and academic professionals at Portland State, the PSU American Association of University Professors (PSU AAUP), declared an impasse in our ongoing contract negotiations. Impasse is a typical next step in the bargaining process as the parties seek to find agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement. Per Oregon law, PSU and AAUP will submit their “last best and final offer” within 7 days, which is followed by a 30-day cooling off period.
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 - PSU and AAUP Mediation Session #7:
The Parties met for the seventh mediation session with the state mediator. AAUP provided counter proposals on Economics, Layoff Protections, Retirement, Staff Fee Privilege and Workload to PSU ahead of the mediation session. PSU then responded with a counter proposal to the AAUP proposal.
The Parties continued to work hard to reach an agreement and proposal generation continued until late on Wednesday night. At the end of the session the Parties agreed to meet again with the ERB facilitator for an additional mediation session on Wednesday, February 26th, 2025.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025 - PSU and AAUP Mediation Session #6:
The Parties met for the sixth mediation session with the state mediator. The Parties continued to work on proposals to reach a contract settlement. AAUP presented an entire package proposal consisting of economics, workload, staff fee privilege and AP advancement. PSU then responded with a package proposal addressing the remaining open bargaining items. AAUP stated that it would look to provide a counter-package proposal to PSU at the next session. The Parties have agreed to meet virtually on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, with the state mediator to continue negotiations.
Friday, January 31, 2025 - PSU and AAUP Mediation Session #5:
The Parties met for the fifth mediation session (again without the state mediator). The Parties continued work on proposals to reach a contract settlement. The Parties agreed to meet virtually on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, with the state mediator to continue negotiations.
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 - PSU and AAUP Mediation Session #4:
The Parties met again without the assistance of the Employee Relations Bureau (ERB) mediator for their fourth mediation session. Parties began the day with continued work on proposals.
The AAUP sent PSU updated language on layoff provisions for Article’s 14, 17, 18 and 22 of the CBA. The PSU continues to work on providing a response to this AAUP proposal. PSU is still waiting to receive AAUP proposal responses to the last exchanged economics package and AP Advancement proposals.
Monday, January 27, 2025 - PSU and AAUP Mediation Session #3:
The Parties met without the assistance of the Employee Relations Bureau (ERB) mediator for their third mediation session. The Parties started the day by working on the outstanding proposals in their mediation rooms.
The PSU team provided AAUP with mediation proposals on academic professional (AP) advancement, additional layoff provisions and a comprehensive economic response that increased the university’s offer. The proposal offered the same COLAs and IPDA amounts as the previous proposal but increased the allocations to salary adjustment pools (CIE / TMI) AP Advancement, and Bilingual Pay amounts. The AAUP team was able to send PSU an updated proposal on the changes to the contract language on the staff fee privilege and proposed changes to the AP and faculty workload articles. The Parties are continuing to work hard to find shared interests and agreement on the final outstanding items.
The parties are scheduled to meet again (without the state mediator) on Wednesday, January 29. The 15-day mediation window will end on Jan 30, after which the parties could agree to continue to meet for mediation sessions or either party could declare impasse.
Wednesday, January 22, 2025 - PSU and AAUP Mediation Session #2:
The Parties met for their second mediation for 12 hours yesterday to continue to exchange language proposals on workload, campus closure, layoff support (including severance and tuition scholarship program for laid-off employees), and recall improvement, and economic packages. The Parties reached a tentative agreement to the following items that were part of a package:
- TA: Research Bridge Funding Program: Starting next year, a $150,000 fund to support research faculty. In subsequent years, the annual fund may vary depending on how much of the unallocated unspent balance of the faculty development fund is transferred.
- TA: Conference Travel Fund: Starting next year, a $150,000 fund to to support the establishment of a new fund to support conference travel. In subsequent years, the annual fund may vary depending on how much reverted IPDA funds are available.
- TA: Campus Closure Article: Updated contract language to reflect the availability of remote work options available to employees.
- AP Vacation Accrual: Current contract language.
- Respectful and Courteous Conduct: Current contract language.
The University provided a second complete economic proposal (offering a 2.85% COLA effective this year, then the current contract language of an increase of 1.75 to 3.5% depending on CPI in years 2,3,4) and increases to PTR, PCAR, AP Level Reassignment, pools for compression, inversion and equity and targeted market increases, and an increase to pay differential for those APs that qualify for the bilingual pay of $1,500.
The University also provided a proposal for a MOU that included severance for employees who are laid off under the provisions of Article 18 and received notice of layoff between Dec 13, 2024 and June 30, 2025. Employees with ten or more years of service would receive a severance payment of $20,000, those with less than 10 years but more than 5 years would receive $10,000 and those with less than 5 years of service would receive $5,000. The University also proposed a tuition scholarship program as a replacement for the staff-fee privilege for laid-off NTTF and their eligible dependents to provide financial assistance for attendance at PSU for up to four years.
AAUP countered the economic proposal and the Parties moved closer towards agreement on a some economic topics but much work remains on many of the economic topics. The Parties did agree to find time to meet next week to continue mediation (without the state mediator) to continue their progress on reaching agreement on the contract. The 15-day mediation window ends Jan 30, after which the parties could agree to continue mediation sessions or either party could declare impasse.
Wednesday, January 15, 2025 - PSU and AAUP Mediation Session #1:
The Parties met for their first mediation session since PSU-AAUP requested mediation in November. The session began with teams meeting together in the joint mediation room. In this joint session, the Employee Relations Board Mediator briefed the teams about the mediation process under PECBA, and how mediation sessions would be conducted. Mediation is required for a minimum of fifteen days following the first mediation session under the PECBA. At the end of the fifteen day window, the Parties may opt to continue mediation or move to the next step in the PECBA process.
PSU continues to work to respond to AAUP’s request to create a new conference fund and the amount of annual funds for the research faculty bridge funding program. The language creating the fund and process was already TA’d. In light of the current financial difficulties that PSU is facing, the PSU negotiating team worked to develop new and creative ways to utilize currently unused or expired funds to support professional and academic development through the conference fund and bridge funding program participation. This concept was well received by AAUP, and the teams are working to finalize language on these two new programs.
The PSU team reviewed AAUP’s last exchanged proposals regarding TTF, NTTF, and AP workload. The team continues to work on improving clarity in the workload language to ensure productive and useful conversations about workload between employees and supervisors.
Next, the PSU team discussed a counter-proposal to AAUP’s proposal of Article 26. University Closures. PSU’s proposed language addresses the confusion regarding remote and in-person employees in the event of extreme inclement weather and unforeseen University closures.
The Parties will have their second mediation session on January 22nd, 2025.
Thursday, December 19, 2024 - Retirement Incentive Offer Closes
The RIO (Retirement Incentive Option) closed with 32 faculty members electing to participate. The program was designed to assist the University in realigning staffing levels to support the institution’s strategic goals and plans to achieve financial sustainability. The impact of the RIO, along with other measures described on the OAA's financial sustainability website, is being evaluated.
As communicated at the Faculty Senate meeting on January 4, 2025, on December 13, 17 non-tenure track instructional faculty members were notified of layoff due to changes in their departments’ programmatic and curricular needs. These are our valued colleagues and friends, and each notice has a profound impact on our community. Their positions will conclude at the end of this academic year, with notice provided now — six months in advance — in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. The process of determining if there are other placements for these faculty members is ongoing. PSU continues to work with our AAUP partners to finalize a severance package for laid-off employees using one-time funds from the HECC.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 - Contract Extension
The parties agreed to extend the 2021-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement through January 31, 2025, or until a successor agreement is ratified by both parties, whichever is sooner.
Friday, November 15, 2024 - AAUP files for mediation with ERB
AAUP filed for mediation, the next step in the bargaining process for Oregon’s public employees. From ERB's website: Once the request for mediation is made, a mediator is appointed. The parties are notified of the appointment and a mediation session is scheduled as soon as a mediator and the members of both bargaining teams are available. If the first session is unsuccessful, additional mediation sessions may be scheduled. PECBA mandates that parties remain in mediation for a minimum of 15 calendar days. After the 15 days, the parties may continue in mediation or either party can initiate the next step in the process by declaring an impasse in the negotiations.
Thursday, November 14, 2024 - PSU and AAUP bargaining session:
The third unfacilitated bargaining session started with a presentation by Howard Bunsis, AAUP’s retained expert. Bunsis was scheduled to cover three topics, to which the University prepared questions: (1) University reserves adjusted for pension and post-retirement liabilities; (2) PSU’s consistently positive cash flows; and (3) subsidies to athletics from the core academic mission. Instead, Bunsis reviewed his entire 150-page presentation analyzing publicly available data on enrollment, finances, and other topics.
AP Bilingual Compensation: Following the presentation, the session continued positively with a tentative agreement to compensate APs for using a second language skill in their position, which will be a new section added to the contract. This new contract language recognizes employees who must utilize their second language in their everyday work at PSU.
Respectful Workplace: The Parties then discussed AAUP’s proposal on respectful workplace language. The proposed contract language includes a list of examples of disrespectful, discourteous, or unprofessional treatment from supervisors. The University shares the interest and is committed to a respectful workplace. The University pointed to Article 24, Section 3, which already states the expectation for a respectful workplace in the contract. Further, the University policies on Standards of Faculty Conduct and Professional Standards of Conduct, Consensual Relationships Policy, and policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment (including Title IX sexual harassment) are based on a protected class (which includes processes for complaint and investigation).
Flexible/Remote Work and Campus Closure: After a brief caucus, AAUP responded to the University’s counter about flexible and remote work. The Parties agreed to the change to a 15-day return to in-person work notice and options for alternative schedules. However, the Parties were still apart on the inclement weather language. The contract language was created before remote work and has generated many questions from supervisors of 12-month employees. The University proposed language that clarifies the work expectations during campus closures with respect to 12-month employees. The University's proposal states that employees who normally work on campus may work remotely with supervisor approval or based on University needs. Employees with a remote work agreement should report for work. If members on 12-month appointments can not work, they can work with their supervisor to make up the time or use vacation for the time missed, similar to Un/Uns. AAUP stated its interest in returning to the original contract language rather than agreeing to the University language.
AP Vacation: The Parties then moved to discuss AP vacation accruals. AAUP proposed increasing the accrual rate for longer-serving AP members. AP vacation accrual would increase from the current 4.5 weeks of vacation to 6.5 weeks in approximately 4 year steps. All 12-month employees also have 11 paid holidays plus 1 special day (2.4 weeks), a total of nearly 9 weeks of paid vacation and holidays. PSU stated that in cases where Universities had implemented a longevity-based vacation accrual system, employees often had to start at a much lower accrual rate than the 15 hours a month currently in place for all AP’s at PSU. AAUP and the University estimated that the increase provided a cost estimate for this proposal of approximately $300-500k per year.
Conference Fund: Next, the Parties moved to discuss the AAUP conference fund proposal. PSU again sought to understand the need to establish a new economic fund to support conference travel, which is already permitted and allowable use of the IPDA accounts. With the faculty development funds, PSU currently contributes approximately $1.7M per year for professional development for AAUP members.
Workload: The Parties continue to discuss language on excessive workload and the examples that can be used to support this assertion. The current contract has separate workload management issues for APs in Article 17 and for faculty in Article 24. Both processes involve multiple resolution steps; the AP process is grievable, and the faculty process is not except for the process. Neither party has examples of these current workload articles not working to resolve issues. Nonetheless, the Parties have proposed creating a single place in the contract for workload issue resolution and have been working on a list of examples for both members and supervisors. Parties are still not in agreement about this workload section being grievable for all member groups.
As the Parties neared the end of the day's session, the Parties turned to agenda setting for the next day and the upcoming economics days. The University stated it was hopeful the open issues could be resolved so that the Parties could move to bargaining economics next week. The University and AAUP had previously agreed in prior IBB sessions to complete negotiations on all non-economic topics before bargaining about economics. AAUP responded that they did not anticipate completing all non-economic topics but intended to move to propose economics. PSU again stated its interest in finalizing language ahead of the facilitated economic days, as previously agreed in IBB sessions. The Parties then broke for a short caucus. Upon return, AAUP announced that they would be filing for mediation -- three days after the minimum 150-day bargaining timeline ended. Mediation is the next step in the bargaining process for Oregon’s public employees.
Thursday, November 7, 2024 - PSU and AAUP bargaining session:
Parties began the session differently from the previous sessions, as the ERB facilitator was pulled away for labor-related reasons. The Parties agreed to share facilitation duties, helping to guide the Parties during discussions.
The session was very productive, with Parties reaching a tentative agreement on three outstanding proposals: 1) clarifications to the PCAR Dean’s reconsideration process and for the review timelines for NTTF hired mid-year, 2) the establishment of a Research Bridge Funding (funding amount to be determined), and 3) the incorporation of prior OR-PFML MOA language in CBA, including the ability to use 20 days of the AAUP DSLB to top-off an OR-PFML.
Workload: The parties then moved on to discuss the current workload proposals. The proposal combines workload reviews for AP and faculty in one article. The parties continue to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of putting in examples of excessive workload. The University maintains that PSU continues to hold the position that many of these workload discussions can be brought to Labor Management Meetings and discussed there rather than adding additional language to the contract.
AP Advancement: The discussion then moved to the topic of the AP advancement salary increase. Presently, the salary increase is $1,600 every four years if reviews are satisfactory. AAUP’s proposal included a change in the frequency of AP salary increases based on satisfactory performance from every 4 years to every 2 years, with a lower, undetermined amount. The University provided a counter, moving the frequency to every 3 years.
AP Overtime: This was a brand new topic, and it was first introduced today. AAUP presented a proposal for converting some academic professionals to hourly as a method of meeting upcoming changes to FLSA standards. The University noted that resolving this topic would involve significant work and review to create a new category of employees in the CBA, which currently covers salaried employees only.
Friday, November 8, 2024 - PSU and AAUP bargaining session:
Layoffs, Notice, and Severance: The bargaining session began with AAUP presenting its proposal on layoffs, severance, and notice. AAUP proposed extensive modifications to the layoff provisions in the contract for AP (Article 17), and NTTF (Article 18) and incorporated elements of the PSU standard for TTF notice in the contract. The proposal would require nearly all layoffs to provide either 12 months of notice or the equivalent salary and benefits. The proposal also added these 12-month notice requirements to Article 22 - Retrenchment for the departmental reductions pathway (not exigency), which has an existing lengthy and engaged process for input, including that of the Faculty Senate.
Workload: PSU then reviewed its revised workload proposal. PSU continues to hold the position that faculty have a great deal of flexibility in how they design and implement their curriculum and teaching assignments. This flexibility allows faculty to monitor and balance their workloads proactively.
Parking and Recreation Center Subsidy: AAUP stated that they would be dropping their requests for free and subsidized access to the PSU Recreation Center as well as proposals related to parking and transportation (a sliding scale parking pass model, increase the number of faculty and staff-only parking spots, reimbursement for parking expenses of up to $50 per month available to all members, and Trimet Universal pass to PSU students and members at $50 annually which the University estimated to cost $8 to $9M).
Conference Fund: The parties then discussed AAUP’s proposal to create a new conference fund. The fund would allow members to apply for additional funding to travel to conferences. PSU noted that conference travel is an allowable expense in the current professional development funds (IPDAs) available to all members. AAUP stated that IPDA funding is insufficient for conference travel, monthly or yearly professional membership fees, and technology purchases. With the faculty development funds, PSU currently contributes approximately $1.7M per year for professional development for AAUP members.
AP Bilingual Compensation: The parties then discussed the proposal put forward by PSU to compensate APs for using a second language skill in their position. The parties agree that additional compensation should be provided and are working on the last details of the proposal.
CIE model: AAUP reviewed the performance of the compression, inversion, and equity (CIE) models and process, jointly developed by PSU and AAUP to help narrow gaps for current employees. The Parties share an interest in improving the mechanics of applying the model and will negotiate the pool amount in future economic discussions.
The next session will be held on Thursday, November 14th.
University Statement About Incident Friday, October 18, 2024
On Thursday, October 18, 2024, several AAUP members and supporters exercised their right to demonstrate within RNMC. During that demonstration, several individuals carried signs attached to wooden stakes in violation of PSU’s longstanding safety rule prohibiting signs attached to sticks (or anything else that could be used as a weapon) inside university buildings. University officials notified AAUP leadership and AAUP employees of the violation and asked them to comply. Those requests were disregarded.
It is important that PSU apply its rules in a fair and even-handed way, especially when those rules impact important individual rights such as the right to engage in free speech activity. Accordingly, CPSO personnel were present in the lobby of RNMC on Friday morning to prevent demonstrators from bringing signs attached to stakes into the building. An AAUP employee entered the lobby pulling a wagon containing AAUP T-shirts, signs, wooden stakes, and other material. Acting Chief Kevin Modica approached the individual and told him that signs on stakes were not allowed. The individual ignored the Acting Chief and attempted to move past him to the elevators. Acting Chief Modica took hold of the back of the wagon to stop the individual from proceeding, and CPSO took possession of the wooden stakes. The individual was then allowed to continue and told that he could retrieve the stakes as he left the building.
Thursday, October 24, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
The Parties began the day's session by revisiting the list of opened items for negotiation. Teams reviewed the list and discussed what could be removed due to the remaining tight bargaining timeline. Parties agreed to remove some items from the list and AAUP decided to move campus climate and safety, facilities and equipment and air filtration to be addressed through labor management committee meetings.
Parties then discussed economic and layoff data needed to inform the remaining bargaining subjects. AAUP raised a number of questions about the layoff notice decisions and possible impacts. The facilitator also urged both Parties to review the currently extensive outstanding data request list and decide what is absolutely necessary for bargaining those topics to proceed.
The parties then discussed economic items before the upcoming costing lab day. The facilitator mentioned the importance of the costing lab day in successfully setting up both Parties for success during the final economic days. The Parties decided to work on finalizing the costing model together during data sub-group meetings.
PSU responded to an AAUP Parking and Transportation trial balloon that proposed adopting a similar program to the OHSU campus. PSU was able to review the trial balloon proposal and provide data. The Parking and Transportation Services (TAPS) quoted the adoption of the OHSU program as potentially costing $8 to $9 million dollars. AAUP also requested data on the number of parking spaces reserved for faculty use. The AAUP CBA states the University is required to reserve 115 parking spaces with marked signage. According to the data provided by TAPS the University currently reserves 214 parking spaces for faculty and staff. The University expressed concerns about the cost of the AAUP trail balloon, given the University’s budget.
PSU also put forward a trial balloon response that offered bilingual stipends for employees who use their second language skills in their work. AAUP stated their interest in this trial balloon, and the Parties will continue to explore this idea.
The Parties continue to discuss the issue of available financial resources for this round of successor negotiations. PSU stated its difficulty in providing an exact financial number as there are programs in the works that can still impact that final amount significantly. PSU continues to state its interest in ensuring that all available financial assets go to supporting all represented and unrepresented employee groups at the University during this difficult economic period.
The next bargaining session will be held on November 7th, 2024.
Friday, October 18, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
Parties began the session by reviewing the progress of the negotiation on the open topics. The ERB Facilitator urged the Parties to review their list of open topics and decide if the topic was important enough for the teams to continue to bargain over, as the goal was to complete all non-economic topics in advance of the nearing economic days.
The Parties returned to discussing economic issues around bargaining. AAUP is still reviewing the completed costing model developed by the University. Parties ended the session by discussing all additional economic data needs ahead of more in-depth economic discussions before the IBB costing days. The Parties then caucused for the remainder of the session to prepare their trial balloons for the next session.
The next bargaining session will be on the 24th October, 2024.
Thursday, October 17, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
The session began with the topic of transportation and parking services available at PSU for AAUP membership. AAUP stated that they believed there should be more parking spaces reserved for faculty use on campus and that parking passes need to be made less expensive. The University stated that the Transportation and Parking Services department is a self-supported auxiliary service that relies on the income it brings in from parking revenue. The University raised concerns about supplementing the Transportation and Parking Services budget for additional programs from the general fund, given the current budget challenges.
Parties then turned to the topic of workload. AAUP presented their idea to make the workload a separate article in the CBA. AAUP proposed defining what an excessive workload may look like in the contract for each member group and creating examples of what an excessive workload might include. The University agreed that having examples may be helpful in the interactive process between the supervisor and the employee where most workload concerns are addressed. There have been very few workload grievances while this language has been in the contract.
The Parties next heard testimonials from members who had received a pre-layoff notice. The University restated its commitment to provide support to employees who are laid off.
Parties then caucused for the remainder of the day's session in order to prepare the trial balloons and options for the following day.
Friday, October 11, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
Parties reviewed the data needed to move forward with a Bridge funding program before moving to workload.
The University then presented its workload trial balloon. The University continued to emphasize the importance of the interactive process between the employee and their supervisor in resolving any workload concerns. The University then shared that the current workload articles in the CBA have only been used a few times and that more data was needed before a conclusion about the effectiveness of the current language could be reached.
Parties returned to the topic of Transportation and Parking. AAUP brought up the PSU & AAUP joint task force on transportation and parking MOU from 2022. The taskforce was tasked with exploring the costs and benefits of flexible parking passes and participating in the TriMet Universal Pass Program. The University also stated that the Transportation and Parking Services is currently running a flexible pass pilot program to gather data. When the pilot program is completed, the report on its findings will be shared.
Next the Parties listened to testimonials from bilingual members who utilize their secondary language in their daily jobs. The Parties discussed the various ways that bilingual work is compensated under the different Union contracts and at other Oregon institutions. The Parties decided that more information was required to continue the discussion on this topic.
Thursday, October 10, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
The Parties began the day by discussing the bridge funding interests put forward by AAUP in the last session. The University stated it’s interest in modifying the past pilot program and including bridge funding in the CBA moving forward but stated is hesitancy in making the departments match the funding total. It was decided that more information was needed on this subject and that the University team would ask the department of Research and Graduate Studies to review the old pilot MOA and make suggestions prior to agreeing.
Next the Parties discussed layoff protections and the proposed layoff support MOA. Parties continue to bargain whether layoff and severance language should be added to the CBA or only housed in the proposed MOA. The parties came to an agreement over the HR resource support concept raised by the University and will offer a meeting with HR to discuss support available to laid off employees upon employee request.
Parties then began discussing the one-time HECC funds the University recently received. AAUP had questions around how these funds would be used and if they had already been allocated for different purposes. The University stated that the HECC funds would need to be used for Academic Sustainability and Program Revitalization as well as supporting all represented and unrepresented Portland State University employees who may be laid off during this academic year or who opt in to any early retirement options that may become available.
Thursday, October 3, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
The Parties began the full day of in person facilitated IBB bargaining by reviewing Article 11. Release Time. Parties reached tentative agreement over the proposed Article 11 language.
The Parties then shared their options grid which contained both Parties interests in the layoff process and impacts. The University stated that the HECC has approved one time funding for academic sustainability needs and possible one time layoff support. The HECC money does come with requirements that it be primarily used for academic revitalization and operational excellence. The Parties then discussed the Retirement Incentive Program and how that would intersect with the possible layoff timelines.
Due to the one time funding from the HECC, the University proposed an MOA that would contain a number of the Parties interests in supporting employees who are laid off, but would not become part of the on-going contract language. The Parties made good progress discussing interests around layoff supports for separated employees. The University presented a scholarship program specific to laid off employees and their dependents who are currently using the staff fee privilege. The scholarship would apply to both undergraduate and graduate programs at PSU.
After lunch AAUP presented their interests around bridge funding for research faculty. AAUP referenced a pilot program that was run in 2021. AAUP proposed rolling the pilot MOA language into the main contract and to increase the amount of money available for this purpose.
The last topic discussed was workload. AAUP proposed creating clearer language around what excessive workload may look like. The Parties will continue to discuss the topic of workload in the next session.
Thursday, September 19, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
The Parties met for another full day of in person facilitated IBB bargaining. The facilitator started by bringing up the table containing both Parties understanding of the layoff requirements within Article 22. Retrenchment, Article 18. Non-Tenure Track Instructional and Research Faculty and Article 17. Academic Professional Faculty. AAUP maintained their interest in extending layoff notifications to one full year for all of their members. Administration stated the difficulty in putting these extended timelines into practice and the concern that this approach may lead to a number of layoff notifications being sent out and then later rescinded. The administration continues to state the need for maintaining flexibility in light of all the unknown factors.
The Parties then moved to discussing the recall list and possible job search benefits afforded to the people on a layoff list. AAUP proposed maintaining the recall list for 5 years for Tenured Faculty and 2 years for Non-Tenure Track faculty and Academic Professional faculty. The University proposed changing the layoff list from an opt in to an opt out - in other words all laid off employees would automatically be on the recall list unless they requested to be removed. The University also suggested one-on-one meetings with HR professionals upon request and educating laid off employees on the job notification system, and job outplacement services available. The University did raise the issue of funding for additional proposed support systems. The possibility of one time HECC funds for the purposes of supporting any laid off employees was discussed. The University stated it had an interest in discussing job search support systems for people on the recall list but maintained the need for it to be implementable, affordable and manageable for the current Human Resources team.
Next AAUP members provided testimonials speaking about workload. The University reiterated its interests in maintaining flexibility to respond to changing enrollment numbers and maintaining management's right to assign work. The discussion then moved to data requests and AAUP outlined a number of data points they would like to receive information around.
The Parties continue to make progress in the IBB bargaining process and are working to reach agreement on a number of difficult topics. The University and AAUP have several bargaining sessions scheduled over the next few weeks and are hopeful progress will continue. The Oregon Employment Relations Board states, “PECBA (Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act) requires that the parties participate in good faith negotiations for at least 150 calendar days before either party may unilaterally request the assignment of a mediator” (https://www.oregon.gov/erb/pages/pecba.aspx). This timeline is the minimum amount of time the parties have to meet to bargain. The PECBA (Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act) allows for the Parties to continue to bargain beyond the 150 day deadline.
Thursday, September 5, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
The Parties met for another full day of in person facilitated IBB bargaining. AAUP started by asking PSU for an update on the proposed Summer Release time language put forward by AAUP. The teams reached tentative agreement on incorporating standard Summer Release language in the contract. PSU will provide draft language to AAUP prior to the next bargaining session.
The Parties then continued the discussion on Staff Fee Privilege and reduced tuition benefits for non-employees. AAUP asked for a response from PSU on the possibility of allowing employees who are laid off and on a recall list maintaining access to the staff fee privilege. PSU responded to AAUP by stating that the IRS regulations were clear about the staff fee privilege being a taxable event for non-employees. Currently the University does not have a mechanism to process these tax events for non-employees. AAUP acknowledged that it would be a taxable event but requested PSU to provide alternative solutions.
Next AAUP began the discussion around layoff protections. PSU maintained its position on remaining flexible during the layoff process and proposed creating a sub-group that would meet when layoffs impacting groups of employees were announced to discuss ways to support impacted employees. PSU continues to state that it believes Parties should not be creating language and processes for layoff scenarios that are not yet known.
AAUP finished the session by presenting cost of living (COLA) data and history. The AAUP presented a number of charts displaying the change in the consumer price index and AAUP membership’s COLA increases over the period from January 2015 to present.
The next scheduled in person bargaining session is scheduled for the 19th of September.
Thursday, August 22, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
Parties met for the fourth full day of in-person facilitator led negotiations. The first topic on the agenda was to review the data and language for Article 3 topics, Bulletin Boards and CBA printing. Parties got off to a good start with an early TA on the Article 3 item.
The University responded to the AAUP trial balloon proposal on Staff Fee Privilege. The University stated that because the benefit is taxable, there currently is no mechanism at the University to administer this type of program to laid off employees who will not receive a W2 from the University. Parties agreed to discuss this topic after more data is collected.
AAUP then presented their interests around Article 11. Released Time. AAUP had an interest in making release time more equitable across the different membership groups. The discussions centered around the differences in how instructional and non-instructional faculty have their release time and overload wage agreements calculated and compensated. AAUP proposed adding language that states course release would equate to 12 hours per week. As the proposals required substantially editing language in this section of the contract, the University will need time to consider any possible unintended impacts. This was viewed by AAUP as a sign of being unprepared. The University again stated their commitment to the process and coming to sessions prepared.
The Parties then ended the day's session by scheduling additional bargaining sessions in October and November (9/5, 9/19, 10/3, 10/10, 10/11, 10/17, 10/18, 10/24, 11/7 & 11/8).
The next scheduled in person bargaining session is scheduled for the 5th of September.
Thursday, August 14, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
Parties met for the third full day of in-person facilitator led negotiations. The Parties moved to discussing the status of data requests on bulletin board locations and contract housekeeping items. After reviewing the full list of bargaining topics the Parties were then asked to identify and separate the bargaining topics into three different categories. Items to use the full IBB process on, items that have a possible economic impact and items that could be handled in ad-hoc groups or sub-groups. The University listed items based on the Article the item came from and listed three articles to negotiate using the full IBB process. The AAUP defined their opening list by subject and cited fourteen subjects to negotiate using the full IBB process. An additional outcome of this process was that the Parties were able to identify seventeen items open for negotiation during this round of successor negotiations that have varying degrees of economic impact to the University.
Parties then moved onto the topic of rights of laid-off members which includes Article 22, Section 5, Article 17 and Article 18 and the topic of the staff fee privilege, this topic was brought forward by AAUP. Parties began by sharing interests and then moved to framing questions on Article 15. Staff Fee Privileges. The staff fee privilege is available to eligible employees (0.5 FTE or greater) and retired faculty members promoted to emeritus (this privilege is not transferable). The benefits of the staff fee privilege program are subject to the IRS rules for tax purposes. The Parties agreed that more data needs to be collected on this topic to better understand the feasibility of extending a benefit of employment to laid-off members, including the reporting of tax liability for the laid-off member and if it is feasible to implement any changes before continuing further discussion. It was learned during negotiations that the University does not currently have a system in place to manage a staff fee privilege for someone who is not an employee.
The Parties then moved to discuss their interests around Article 11, Release Time. AAUP presented their interests around making release time more equitable among their members. They shared interests around making release time more easily accessible to Academic Professionals. This would allow Academic professionals to have more access to leadership roles within the Union. Parties now wait on additional data to be collected on this topic before continuing discussions.
The parties also agreed to form a sub-group to discuss early retirement incentives. The next scheduled in person bargaining session is scheduled for the 22nd of August.
Thursday, July 25, 2024 - PSU and AAUP facilitated bargaining session:
Parties met for the second full day of in-person facilitator led negotiations. The Parties moved to discuss Article 3, Section 5 which was opened by PSU. PSU stated its interest in reducing the number of new CBA copies to print after finalizing a new contract. The Parties were able to reach TA on reducing the number of printed CBA with the understanding more will be printed if required. PSU’s second interest in this article was in Section 3 and around finding a better understanding of where the Universities bulletin boards are situated and the related policies around campus. The Parties then created a number of data requests to better inform further discussions on this subject.
The Parties then discussed their interests around the topic of layoffs. Parties discuss the Articles of the CBA that contained language around layoffs and retrenchment in an attempt to understand the scope of bargaining this subject and its impact on the current CBA. After exchanging interests around layoffs and staff fee privilege the Parties then discussed data needs to help inform discussions on this subject in later bargaining sessions.
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - PSU and AAUP begin facilitated bargaining:
The parties attended this bargaining session in-person and had a facilitator from the Employee Relations Board (ERB) in attendance. The first topic discussed was remote observer access to bargaining sessions. Parties reached agreement about having ERB set up and monitor a virtual webinar that will be accessible to all observers.
The Parties then discussed Article 38, Member Notification about the EAP program through virtual EAP brochures and what is required to be posted on the PSU HR web page to inform all members. The Parties agreed that the need for circulating printed EAP brochures may not be necessary but further data would need to be collected about currently available program information shared on PSU HR web pages. The Parties did come to agreement over the term brochure being changed to information to include all forms of information sharing processes.
The Parties also discussed team participation on the writing and data subgroups with both teams volunteering participants.
June 13, 2024 - PSU and AAUP met for the first Successor Negotiation session:
The bargaining teams met on Thursday, June 13th to discuss Summer Release pay for bargaining unit members and Ground Rules for Successor Negotiations ahead of the full day IBB training session scheduled for Friday, 12 July. The teams have also agreed to meet for the first two all day successor bargaining sessions scheduled for Wednesday, July 24th and Thursday, July 25th, 2024.
May 24, 2024 - PSU and AAUP exchanged written notice of articles to be opened:
In alignment with the language in Article 45, AAUP sent PSU written notice specifying the new sections or sections of the CBA they propose to negotiate on May 1, 2024 (AAUP - Articles to open - Successor Bargaining). PSU emailed AAUP on May 10, 2024 requesting a one-week extension to the contractual obligation to provide written notice by May 15, 2024 which AAUP granted. On May 22, 2024 PSU responded with a written notice specifying the articles and sections of the CBA PSU proposed to negotiate (PSU - Articles to open - Successor Bargaining).
April 19, 2024 - PSU and AAUP ERB IBB Workshop
The parties attended an Interest-based Bargaining (IBB) information session run by the Employee Relations Board (ERB). The parties discussed the merits and drawbacks of using IBB for the 2024 round of successor contract negotiations. AAUP will be attending a separate information session on traditional bargaining in mid-May prior to determining their preference regarding which bargaining approach to adopt. AAUP shared their intention to adhere to the PECBA 150-day bargaining timeline.
April 4, 2024 - PSU and AAUP first steps
The parties conferred prior to February 28, 2024 regarding the format, timing and scheduling of successor bargaining. To help inform discussions around the negotiation format, the Parties have agreed to attend a half day informational Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) workshop run by Employment Relations Board (ERB).
Employment Relations Board Reference