Solidarity & Relief Fund for UO Student Workers here
The University of Oregon Student Workers Union has officially filed for an election with the NLRB, setting up a decisive vote on what could become the largest undergraduate student unions in the United States. This union would be wall-to-wall, covering all applicable workers at the university. According to the union, it already has the support of over 2,000 of its potential members.
The campaign for UOSW has been hard fought and lengthy. Originally beginning as flyers at the beginning of Spring 2022, efforts to collect union cards began late last year. Frenetic union organization really began at the beginning of this year, however, with an uptick in anti-union action by the University of Oregon to match. In the past few months, students have seen apparent retaliation against union supporters.
According to The Nation, the union's baseline demands are as follows:
[...]higher pay, a two-week pay period, flexible scheduling, and better workplace anti-harassment measures. [...]individual workplaces also hope to win more specific benefits, like mental health resources for resident assistants.
The union also believes the way that current student workers are paid may be illegal under Oregon law. "Moreover, the payday for all University of Oregon workers is the final business day of a month," The Nation contributor Porter Wheeler writes, "This means that if a student starts working in the second half of a month, they will not receive compensation until the end of the next month. This pay period is potentially illegal. As the union points out, Oregon law 652.120 clearly states: 'Payday may not extend beyond a period of 35 days from the time that the employees entered upon their work.'"
Much of the work of organizing would not have been possible without University of Oregon Young Democratic Socialists of America, it's worth noting.
Almost a year after their successful election, the University of Oregon Student Workers Union has decided to affiliate with the UAW, ending their status as an independent union. 97% of voters were in favor of this change—no doubt this is in part because of the UAW's recent successes and its importance in the current movement to unionize academia and student labor.
This change might also emphasize the difficulty of remaining an independent union: while there are some benefits (independence of action, not being beholden to other interests, it being much easier to chart your own ideological course) you also have to do pretty much everything by yourself and have a harder time leaning on the resources, experiences, and material support of a larger union.
If I had to guess any reason for this change in affiliation, it would be that—it's hard to do all of that, even with 4,000 members to draw from! Particularly when bargaining for a contract that can also be daunting. Hopefully one day it will be easier for unions to chart that course if they desire to—nonetheless, I think UOSW won't be out of place with its affiliation here.