Dear CGE Members and Community,


Quick Little Reminders
  • Only a Few More Weeks to Complete the Survey of Graduate Workers' Issues: Please respond to this fully anonymous survey to communicate what is important to you! Responses will not be distributed outside of the CGE bargaining team members and other CGE leadership. Help us get a better understanding of grad workers' priorities and needs over time, to direct bargaining efforts and provide evidence of particular issues, which can help us build power at the bargaining table. 
  • Submit testimony for Health Care for All: The state of Oregon is currently developing and assessing a state-wide universal health care program and looking for public comment. Universal health care would protect people from the experience we've had of our healthcare changing unexpectedly based on our employers financial choices. You can submit testimony to the Universal Health Care Governance Board here. There are also public meetings and lots of other ways to get involved at Health Care for All Oregon!
  • Cigna registration: Reminder that this registration is only to receive your digital insurance card— regardless of registration grads are covered by Cigna as of October 1st. However, if you run into issues with registration please bring this to the attention of Grad Health at 541-737-7568 or gradhealth@oregonstate.edu, they should be able to help.
  • Bargaining Committee (meets Mondays 2-4pm @WestM): Like everything else CGE does, the impact bargaining team is made up of members - that’s you! If you are interested in learning more about or even joining the Bargaining Committee please email vp_bargaining@cge6069.org with a non-OSU email indicating your interest. Anyone can attend bargaining committee meetings, even if you are not a member of the team. We are especially interested in making sure that we have representation from masters students, international students, humanities students, queer students, students of color, and any other group of students who face challenges that can be addressed through contract negotiations. No prior experience in research/negotiations is expected or required!

Announcements

  • Impact Bargaining Update

Our bargaining team began Tuesday's session by presenting health insurance change impacts as aggregated data. We explained our current assessment of how many grads were affected by the change in carriers, informed by member emails to the healthcare@cge6069.org email. Some of the data we presented includes:
    • 47 GEs have reported increased health care costs as a result of this change.
    • Per session impacts for mental health care for previously in-network and now out-of-network care ranged from $40 to $162. Most grads expressed anxiety in finding a new health care provider and/or therapist, and many will likely remain with their out-of-network therapists. Assuming a twice-monthly session rate, these 35 grads will experience yearly impacts from $33,600 to $136,100 per year.
    • Aside from these known financial impacts, 12 graduates communicated loss of care, 5 communicated delay of care, and 3 communicated loss of prescription coverage, with financial consequences that are currently unknown to us.
(Note: If we are underreporting data to OSU, we need you to write in to improve our assessment. Please report any and all impacts to your union, and check in on your coworkers and ask them to do the same.) This reasoning accounts for both our proposed changes to the structure of the Health Insurance Advisory Council and the OSU-run Hardship Fund, which we presented at the previous session.

OSU responded to our report with a lengthy statement that implicitly justified why they did not bring counter-proposals to Tuesday's session. While they reiterated that they are willing to work with CGE to find solutions to the problems we posed, they are resistant to doing so via contract language, and were unwilling to refer to the impacts we presented as such. Instead, Emily Farrell, OSU's lead negotiator, used phrases like "felt effects" and "felt experiences." Our bargaining team made many attempts to refocus the conversation to find real solutions to the problems our members are experiencing. Although we passed our proposals 2 weeks ago and we had a 4 hour sessions scheduled to discuss these issues, OSU's team stated that they need additional time to consider our proposals.

We hope to see a substantive response at the next session on December 2nd at 3 PM. However, it is still possible that OSU's response will not take the form of enforceable contract language. Help us show OSU's bargaining team that we care about these impacts by attending the next session, by talking to your coworkers to increase our knowledge of impacts, and having conversations with your fellow workers about the importance of membership. Everything we do as a collective to show that we are united increases OSU's motivation to treat us with the respect and dignity we deserve.

The next bargaining session is December 2nd at 3 PM in Cascade Hall, room 141.

  • Keep ICE out of Newport!
A new ICE facility in Newport could be built, despite local push-back. Please use the attached letter template to contact your representatives so that we can help keep ICE out of Newport. The letter says it best:

"It is unthinkable that a detention camp filled with our community members, friends, and family would be located here. News about such camps include reports of overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and lack of food, water, or medical care. People have been unable to communicate with family or have access to legal counsel. There seems to be virtually no accountability for what goes on in these camps or for the way people are treated. There is no indication such a camp on the Oregon coast would operate any differently."

  • Solidarity with Striking Starbucks Workers
Over 1,000 Starbucks baristas in 40+ cities have been on strike for one week in response to dozens of Unfair Labor Practice complaints filed against the coffee chain. None of the Corvallis Starbucks locations are yet unionized, so there is not an active picket in our area. However, the union has called for a national boycott to increase the strike's leverage. Do not buy Starbucks while the boycott is ongoing! And go support a picket line if you can: https://www.oraflcio.org/strikemap. More information here: https://sbworkersunited.org/our-strike/.

Upcoming Events

  • Impact Bargaining Session, December 2nd at 3 PM in Cascade Hall, room 141.
Please come and show your support for the process and for grads who have been impacted by the health insurance change!

Committees and Caucuses that need your help

Grad workers are capable and passionate people who can together exercise great power. One of the ways we do that is through caucuses and committees. All meetings are at WestM unless otherwise stated.
International Caucus: The CGE International Caucus is open to all graduate students regardless of CGE membership status and serves to represent the concerns of all international students at Oregon State University. The International Graduate Caucus recognizes that international graduate students attending OSU have unique needs and difficulties in comparison to US students. Reach out to president@cge6069.org.
Disability Justice and Mental Health Super Caucus: This new super caucus is working on writing its charter. Open to all graduate students, regardless of current CGE membership status. Fridays, 11am on Zoom, reach out to vp_membership@cge6069.org.
Environmental Justice Caucus: The CGE Environmental Justice Caucus works with the university and Corvallis communities to address the causes and consequences of the climate crisis and environmental destruction through equitable and just solutions. 
Committee on Political Engagement (COPE): Plans and implements actions around wider political issues. COPE members channel collective power into concrete efforts to make a difference in local and state politics. Meets Fridays 10am. Email vp_politics@cge6069.org for more information.
Grievance Committee: A great opportunity for people to learn more about the contract and how we defend it. Meets Thursdays 2pm. Email vp_grievances@cge6069.org for more information.
Pride Caucus: Place for community, support, and action to safeguard the rights and affirm the identities of people who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community at Oregon State University. Meeting Fridays, 3pm.

In solidarity,
Serena Frazee (she/her)
VP for Communications, Coalition of Graduate Employees, AFT Local 6069
PhD Student in Integrative Biology, Oregon State University