Northwest labor press., May 02, 2014, Page 3, Image 3

PSU profs say new contract is Step 1 in
combatting creeping corporatization
posals to strip the union of any say
over policies on evaluation and
promotion and to give administra-
tors the right to change anything
not spelled out in the contract.
AAUP calls the agreement a
first step in a campaign it’s under-
taking to change PSU’s direction.
Casting ballots in person April
PSU’s administration has adopted
15 and 16, members of American
a corporate mindset, says AAUP
Association of University Profes-
spokesperson David Osborn — in
sors (AAUP) at Portland State Uni-
which growing numbers of over-
versity (PSU) voted by an over-
paid managers see themselves as
whelming 97 percent margin to
the principle decision-makers. And
ratify a new collective bargaining
the vision the administrators are
agreement.
seeking to implement involves ex-
AAUP represents 975 full-time
pensive capital projects that are
faculty at PSU. [Part-time faculty
aimed to attract out-of-state and
are represented by a separate union,
foreign students — because they
American Federation of Teachers,
pay higher tuition. But Osborn said
which ratified a contract earlier this
those choices are diminishing the
year.]
value
of a PSU education, and
American
Association
of
University
Prof-
The new AAUP contract will
provide greater job security to hun- essors union member Allison Brown, an making tuition unaffordable for the
dreds of faculty who have been instructor of applied linguistics at Portland kind of non-traditional first-genera-
working on renewable one-year State University, casts a ballot for the tion college students that PSU has
historically served. A case in point
contracts: PSU commits to give contract. (Photo courtesy PSU-AAUP)
is that actual classroom instruction
two- or three-year contracts to 80
has declined to just 33 percent of
percent of faculty members who’ve low it.
the
university’s
budget; AAUP wants it
AAUP
had
great
difficulty
getting
been at the school at least four years.
back
up
to
50
percent.
an
acceptable
agreement
through
the
The contract also includes raises
“Instruction is the core mission of
that total at least 6.5 percent by its Nov. normal bargaining process. Only after
this
institution,” Osborn said. “It does-
30, 2015 expiration, plus a new salary faculty authorized a strike and set an
n’t
seem
unreasonable to have half the
April
16
strike
date
did
the
PSU
ad-
floor of $40,000 that will bring com-
dollars
going
to that.”
ministration
back
off
of
regressive
pro-
pensation up even more for those be-
Greater job security,
and modest raises,
will help stabilize
faculty
Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 apprentice Marshall Crites competes in pipe
threading discipline during an of apprenticeship contest held April 12-13 at
the Matt J. Walters Training Center in Tualatin. Marshall, a 5th term HVAC-
R fitter, took first place in his division. Working in the background is Matthew
Busik, a 10th term apprentice.
UA #290 apprentices compete
Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 held
its annual apprenticeship contest April
12-13 at the Matt J. Walters Training
Center in Tualatin.
Twenty-seven apprentices competed
in one of four disciplines — welding,
pipefitting, HVAC/Refrigeration, and
plumbing. Awards were presented to
the top three finishers in each disci-
pline, with each winner advancing to
the regional competition in Pasco,
Washington in June. Winners were:
Victor Yaschenko, welding; Dallas
Crone, pipefitting; Marshall Crites,
HVAC/R; and Matthew Seats, plumb-
ing.
The contest consists of various
timed competitions doing work from
their specific trade, such as welding,
piecing together piping systems, tube
bending, soldering, reading blueprints,
and more. There also is a written test.
“Managing your time is probably
the most difficult thing. And (not) mak-
ing bad decisions,” said winner Dallas
Crone. “The written test is easy. Either
you know the answer or you don’t.”
Apprentices are required to have
8,000 training hours and 1,080 school
hours over a five-year period before
turning out as a journeyman. Appren-
tices are paid while on the job.
Local 290 currently has 365 appren-
tices in various stages of completion. It
opened its training program April 22,
and more than 600 people applied. The
training committee has not decided how
many new apprentices it will accept.
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