2014 is apparently the Year of the Strike in the Oregon public education system.
In early February, the teachers in the Medford Public School District began a two week strike that just ended on Monday, then in mid-February Portland Public School teachers prepared for strike - which was averted at the eleventh hour, and now - quite possibly - faculty at Portland State University may be forced to go on strike in the next month.
Follow me below the orange croissant to learn more. . .
With nearly 30,000 students, Portland State University is Oregon's largest university, and administrators would like to increase enrollment even more - as state funding continues to dry up.
In my (nearly) eight years as a PSU faculty member, I have watched AAUP, the PSU faculty union, work tirelessly to come to agreement with PSU administrators over such issues as compensation, faculty governance, and tenure and promotion policies. During that time, I've been both impressed with the patience and dedication of AAUP bargaining members, and simultaneously disgusted with the hypocrisy exhibited by university bargaining members.
As with our colleagues in the SEIU (our classified employee union, which narrowly averted a strike last fall) we have had to fight tooth and nail for every percentage increase - just to attempt to keep up with inflation - while administrators enjoy up to 30% raises.
This year, the university is offering 1% raises to PSU faculty, and wants to remove contract language that deals with 'past practice', meaning that (as one example) changes to policies such as vacation leave could be made without any negotiation whatsoever.
Here are some of the reasons faculty at PSU are finally angry enough to risk a strike:
PSU Exec Admin Numbers and Salaries Soar
The number of Executive Administrators at the level of Asst. Dean and above grew by 65% over the past decade, from 31 to 51.
Between 2002 and 2012, after adjusting for inflation
President’s salary on E & G funds rose 90%
Provost’s salary shot up by 46%
Vice Provosts’ average salaries leapt by 43%.
Vice Presidents’ average salaries rose by 29%
Associate Vice Presidents’ average salaries grew by 19%
Assistant Vice Presidents’ average salaries increase by 23%
Faculty Salaries Lag over the same period
Over the same period, the already high student/full-time faculty ratio worsened, and faculty salaries lagged, even falling for some categories.
Between 2002 and 2012, after adjusting for inflation, on average
Tenured Full Professors’ salaries rose 6%
Tenured Associate Professors’ salaries fell by 1%.
Tenure-Track Assistant Professors’ salaries grew by 1%
Fixed Term Assistant Professors’ salaries rose by 8%
Fixed Term Senior Instructors’ salaries grew by 1%
Fixed Term Instructors’ salaries fell by 7%
Academic Professionals’ salaries fell by 3%
As you can see, just as with U.S. corporations, compensation is concentrated at the top and the rest of the workforce is told to be satisfied with the dregs - and to feel lucky to have a job at all!
Because I have experienced firsthand the struggle to - at a minimum - keep our salaries even with inflation, whenever I read comments from conservatives and others who are anti-union and anti-public-employee, I see red.
Generally their comments are some version of this, for example:
Is anybody else getting really really fed up with unions holding education hostage and extorting the taxpayers????
By the way, the state of Oregon funds something like 15% of our operating budget - and the state is continuing to cut support every year, but whatever, don't let facts get in the way of a good bias. These days,
student tuition (which, as you might expect, is increasing exponentially, and much of which is paid through student loans) supports 'public' universities like PSU.
Then there are these comments:
Fire a few of the ring-leaders among the lazy, spoiled professorial class, replace them with people who want to work, e.g., from India or Russia.
These people make plenty for the part time work they do. If they want more, let them hustle for summer work or a grant.
There are literally people who believe that 100% of university faculty members make $75,000+ and up and work 9 months a year teaching three classes.
Well, I'm here to tell you that with two graduate degrees and over 15 years of experience in higher education, my salary is nowhere near $75K and I work year-round, as many (most!) of my colleagues do. In fact, when inflation is taken into account, my salary has either decreased or remained flat over the last ten years - which explains why I also try to pick up adjunct teaching opportunities at another school in the area in order to help make ends meet.
Yes, I have wonderful benefits (a portion of which I pay for, by the way) and I get to work in a stimulating environment, with wonderful students, and amazing colleagues. But I have to eat, and pay a mortgage, and I would like to travel at some point.
I don't think it's asking too much for the university (and the state of Oregon) to INVEST in its employees by offering real compensation (1% is an insult) on a regular basis while keeping an eye on administrative costs.
Will Portland State University faculty members have to call a strike to communicate to the administration that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore?
Stay tuned!