Effort to unionize 2,000 faculty members at the University of Oregon is gaining speed
The Register-Guard
January 29, 2012
An effort to unionize faculty at the University of Oregon is gaining speed as advocates begin fanning out to ask supporters to sign cards seeking state recognition for a new labor organization.
The group United Academics of the University of Oregon began collecting cards from its strongest supporters earlier this month. Last week, the group expanded its efforts and began seeking endorsements from regular faculty members who haven’t been on the front lines of the organizing effort.
Under the process chosen by union advocates, supporters need to collect signed cards from at least 50 percent of those in the proposed bargaining unit, plus one.
If the state determines that the group has met that requirement, it would certify the new bargaining unit.
Scott Pratt, a philosophy professor at the UO, said even though no formal ballot is held, the card-check process, as it’s known, is a fair and open way to decide whether a union should be formed.
“From our angle, this is the democratic process,” he said. “We want to make sure that the folks in the bargaining unit have a chance to think about this, and when we reach a point where over half of the members want the bargaining unit, the state gives us the possibility of forming the union.”
