news
eriers
by TOM TOMORROW f
UO SEIU WCiRKERS
ministration, sent an e-mail to the university
community
Aug. 5 saying, the UO "has long
THREATEN
TO STRIKE
enjoyed a positive and constructive relation-
ship, based on mutual trust and respect, with
Negotiations have broken down between
our local SEIU," and he expects the "terms
classified workers and administration in the
and conditions of the final agreement will be
:Orc,gon University System (OUS) and threats
are being aired of a mid- or late-September
mutually beneficial to everyone iJ?. this uni-
strike. Students return to campus Sept 29 . .
versity communityt
Management declared an impasse Aug. 8.
Williams says the administration's latest
"What this means is that the clock is ticking
proposals include a lump-sum payment of
towards our grand finale - whatever that
$350 for all eligible employees to be dis-
ends up being," says Star-Holmburg, a mem-
bursed in November 2004. DAS workers got
ber of the OPEU/SEIU Local 503 bargaining
a similar payment.
table. "By Friday of next week, Aug. 15, we
Regarding the controversial "greater level
will have to submit our last, best final offer to
of flexibility" in scheduling, Williams says
management ... So, it is now ·officially crunch
"OUS is not attempting through this change
time. And they are dead serious."
to be able to switch an employee's schedule
Once an impasse is declared, both sides
in an ad hoc manner, but to have the ability to
have a week ta submit final offers and then a
make reasonable scheduling changes when
30-day "cool~g-ofl" period begins.
absolutely necessary to .ensure the safe, con-
Classified workers in the system consist
sistent operations of our universities."
of about 1,300 technical, maintenance, cleri-
Joe Sicotte, the OUS bargaining team
cal and other support staff at UO and about
leader, says negotiations are on the same
3,770 employees statewide.
schedule as the DAS negotiations, which
The current contract with OUS classified
wrapped up in July. "DAS declared impasse,
workers expires Sept. 15 and workers are
· and it was another 37 days before negotia-
complaining about a lack of raises, possible
tions concluded, all of this time the union
cutbacks in health insurance for .. part-time
threatening
a strike," says Sicotte
workers, and "hostile language" in manage-
"Negotiations could go on for another 30-
ment proposals. OUS is seeking the right to
plus days, we are hopeful that they will con-
lay off employees for up to three weeks with-
clude at the next negotiation on Aug. 14, 15."
out pay, flexible scheduling (a 40-hour
Union members are planning to.
workweek could conceivably cover seven
hold a series of events and rallies
days), and eliminating some seniority and
around the state at noon Thursday,
layoff protections in the current contract.
Aug.I 4, according to Janet
Szliske, communica-
"If we are pushed to strike the first day of
tions di-
classes in September due to hostile OUS
proposals, the blan:ie for the shutdown of -~ .... - ~
campuses will rest squarely on Chancellor
Jarvis," says UO employee James Jacobson.
"I'm thoroughly disgusted with the way uni-
versity workers are being treated," he says.
"This is the worst treatment I've ever seen
or heard of in the university system."
"It sounds like people are pretty upset,"
says Lynn Feekin of the Labor Education
and Research Center on campus. "You're in
a terrible economic environment and you're
trying to negotiate contract and your mem-
bers in [the Department of] Administrative
Services (DAS) have settled a contract and
you're anticipating at least parity."
Dan Williams, UO vice president for ad-
a
.
l . HIS DAILY HOROSCOPE
.
CANCER (June 22-July 22): Go on
and resolve that unfinished family
business-but don't forget your friends
in the process!
Ol<At PUT Tl¥:. fltOOPS OM
ALEJti'••AtlO
GU TIIOSE.
REtOll$1'RflN'IOII toll-
ffAt:1'$ AAMDED
OUT!
rector of SEIU Local 503. The Eugene
demonstration will be at 12:10 pm Thursday
in front of Oregon Hall at 13th and Agate. For
more information, visit www.seiu503.org
-Ted Taylor
APOCALYPTIC
COMEDY
COMES TO EUGENE
Ashland
play-
wright and come-
dienne
Joanie
McGowan
brings to Eugene
Rude Awakening,
her explosive
comedy about
waking up to an
end-of-the-
world
atert.
Rude
Awaken-
runs Wed-
nesday,
Aug.
20
through Sunday, Aug.
24 at the Comedy Sportz Arena, 10th and
Oak, downtown Eugene. Tickets ($8 adv., .
$10 dos.) are available at Tsunami Books
(2585 Willamette) and Star Gate (1374
Willamette). Two dollars from the sale of
each ticket goes to Lane County Bill of:
Rights Defense Committee to support their'
educational efforts and their campaign for a
statewide resolution against the Patriot Act,
Homeland Security and post-9111 federal or- •
ders that violate the Bill of Rights.
In the show, McGowan plays herself - a
47-year-old single woman, rudely jostled ·
from a lovely dream by an emergency broad-
cast from Fox McFearlips of the American
Spellcasting Network. McFearlips leads
McGowan through a series of apocalyptic .
preparations, many of which come directly
from the Department of Homeland Security's
website, www.ready.gov
"I was experiencing a terribre case of
writer's block halfway through the play,"
McGowan said. "l had just heard about the
new DOHS website, so I checked it out, and
KA-BOOM! I was blasted right through my
&LIQJ
.
• We're sad to see Alan Siporin an-
nounce that he will be steppin9 down
soon from his "Critical Mass" public af-
fairs call-in show · on KLCC-FM public
radio. Last fall we profiled the talented
Siporin and his book, Fire's Edge, which
was inspired by some of the . remarkable
guests on his Sunday program (see
www.eugneweekly.com archives for Sept.
26, 2002). We hope Siporin remains ac-
tive as a journalist and novelist, and of
course we hope KLCC's weekly progres-
sive talk show not only continues in some
form, but eventually expands to match
KRVM's two-hour Jefferson Exchan.ge
weekday mornings at 1280 AM.
• Cars. in the parking lot at the Em's
game Saturday night, Aug. -9, were re-
porteqly leafletted by the Aryan Nati~ns,
a neo-Nazi grQup that occasionally pops
up in town. Some neighborhoods were
also targeted with racist, anti-Jew propa-
8 AUGUST
14, 2003 eugene
weeKLV
• Speaking of the local daily; the R-G fi-
nally crafted a decent piece on the im-
pact of corp_orate tax breaks on the local
economy in its Sunday edition, Aug. 10
(search for "Unlucky Breaks" afwww.reg-
isterguard.com). No big revelations here.
We've been beating this subject to death
for years, and volumes have been written
·about it nationwide (try Googling for
"corporate candy"). But it's great to see
· · • The Springfield News has a new edi-
•
ma_
iostream media going beyond superfi-
,. tor, Larry Berteau, most recently the ·
cial
reporting. Hats off to Sherri ~uri
award-winning managing editor of the
McDonald
and Christian Wihtol. What's
Ashland Daily Tidings, and we hear
next? ·
Berteau is talking about taking the twice-
• Community supported art? We see·a
weekly S'News to maybe six days a week.
mural project is under way on the south
Springfield could use· a daily rag with wire
side of the Goodwill store on River Road.
service news to compete with the R-G,
and the Springfield paper does have its , River Road activists Martha Johnson and
J~m Spencer have teamed up to make
own printing press. But the big question
happen a large "public interest" mural.
remains: Will advertisers support an-
The cost of the mural is being shared
other local daily in this economy?-
among ...
residents of the area,
and so far
.
ganda. Who's responding? Back to Back:
Allies for Human Digriity, a program of
Community Alliance for Lane County
(CALC), is doing counter-leafletting and
asking people to "please use your eyes
and ears to make sure that hate activities
don't take hold in our communities." Call
local police, or CALC at 485-1755,
calc@efn.org to help.
more than 30 people and businesses
have invested $1,000 in the 75 foot long
painting. It won't be finished for .awhile,
but check it out, and contribute. :
• Recently the Vatican, followi •ng
President Bush's awkward pronoun.ce-
ments against gay marr.iages, issued it's
own odd statement: "Such unions are not
able to contribute in a proper way to the
procreation and survival of the human
race." What about all the couples who
happen to be gay who are atso _dedicated
parents, caregivers, workers, business-
people, public servants and otherwise
contributing members of society? Is
there really a "proper" way to be a
human being? The Vatican has not-pro-
vided us with many good examples lately.
SLANT includes· short opinion pieces, observations and
rumor-chasing
notes compiled by the EW staff Heard any
· good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylorat484-0519
, ed-
itor@eugeneweeldy
.com
www.eugeneweeKlv.