The Oregon Institute of Technology filed Wednesday with the Oregon Employment Relations Board, asking the agency to declare a tentative faculty strike unlawful.
Earlier this month OIT鈥檚 faculty union, a chapter of the American Association of University Professors, . That declaration came as the union and university had been bargaining for 16 months.
If the union strikes 鈥� it said it will if an agreement is not reached by this coming Monday 鈥� it would be the first public university faculty union in Oregon ever to do so.
Along with its petition to the Oregon Employment Relations Board, OIT has also filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the faculty union, claiming numerous instances where the faculty union has not bargained or acted in good faith.
鈥淚mproper union actions include: filing its final offer with the ERB without first providing proposals at the negotiating table; attempted interference with the University鈥檚 bargaining team; direct dealing; and inaccurate costing of its proposals,鈥� the university said in a statement Wednesday.
Oregon Tech gave examples of the faculty union and faculty senate working together to insist OIT remove its lead negotiators. The university said the union also made a statement to the OIT board of trustees that faculty would not accept a contract that does not include promotions for non-tenured faculty and annual faculty evaluations, 鈥渢hereby directly dealing with the highest level of administrators about the terms of the prospective bargaining agreement.鈥�
鈥淭hese actions show an intent to not honor the negotiation process,鈥� the university said.
OIT also said in a statement that the union鈥檚 cost summary included errors and underestimated the costs to the university throughout the length of the proposed contract.
Oregon Tech faculty union secretary, Kari Lundgren, said Wednesday evening that the union鈥檚 lawyer is reviewing the university鈥檚 filings with the state Employment Relations Board.
鈥淸W]e view this as a delay tactic on senior administration鈥檚 part,鈥� Lundgren told OPB. 鈥淲e think it鈥檚 unfortunate that senior administration is playing games like this rather than working on healing and building up faculty and students during an incredibly stressful time.鈥�
Lundgren said the university and the union were continuing to negotiate in a meeting Thursday, and that 鈥淥T-AAUP will continue to bargain in good faith for fair wages, secure benefits and reasonable and clear workloads.鈥�
The university is asking the Employment Relations Board to declare the impending union strike unlawful, direct the faculty union to return to bargaining for a full 30 days, 鈥渁nd otherwise comply with the law before undertaking any further strike action.鈥�
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