*Dear CGE Members and Community,* *Quick Little Reminders* - *Bargaining Committee (meets Wednesday 11-1pm @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 - *Bargaining Update* CGE's bargaining team most recently met with OSU on Friday, 1/30/2026. In this meeting: - *OSU confirmed that student health services is IN NETWORK with Cigna.* Please disregard letters stating that your provider there is out of network; student health's billing office has made a mistake with claims from October and November, and they are actively correcting those claims. OSU has refused to send an email to grads notifying us of this mistake, so be sure to spread the word about this. - *OSU also has informed us that unexpected expenses resulting from our insurance swap are within criteria to apply for their hardship fund* (Financial Impact Hardship Award - FIHA); at least two applications have already been accepted on these grounds. Their wording for eligibility criteria for the award has been changed accordingly. You can apply for it here: ( https://graduate.oregonstate.edu/awards/financial-impact-hardship-award) - *We have compiled lists of the providers that were in-network with Pacific Source that are not in network with Cigna most visited by our grads (medical, mental health, and vision). OSU has agreed to contact Cigna to try to bring them into network.* They have said they will send our list of those providers to Cigna within a week. We will learn if any of those providers do enter network with Cigna by requesting a new Cigna provider directory in the months to come. - *Our bargaining team proposed that a student health representative should be invited to the Health Insurance Advisory Council* (HIAC), a joint body that meets quarterly to discuss the university's offered health insurance plans and administration. Our intent was to loop student health in to the issues related to our insurance since many grads use them for visits. OSU was averse to this idea for unclear reasons - regardless, we have reached out to student health to see if they would be interested in sending a rep. - If you want to read about this in more detail see the attached update! - *Statement from AFT-Oregon on ICE violence on 1/31* Last Saturday members of CGE joined dozens of other unions for a peaceful rally in Portland and were met by violence. I wanted to share with you the statement from AFT-OR (our state level parent union): "In coordination with the Oregon AFL-CIO, members of AFT-Oregon and dozens of other local unions gathered for a peaceful daytime labor rally on Saturday, January 30th, at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in Portland. We marched to the ICE facility half a mile away, and were immediately met with flash bangs and chemical munitions deployment from officers on the roof. This rally was attended by thousands of workers and their families and children, some with babies, dogs, and elderly folks walking with assistive devices. This followed another incident earlier last week in Eugene, where federal agents also deployed chemical munitions against protestors. If there were any uncertainty regarding our stance on ICE in our cities, it is gone now. They inflict violence and unlawful, racially motivated detentions on our community, and have been doing so for far too long. Their conduct is shameful, and demonstrates disregard for due process, our constitutional rights, and the safety of our communities. We demand that they cease their operations in Oregon and everywhere else. We stand in solidarity with workers in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago and anywhere else where ICE is perpetuating unchecked violence. An injury to one is an injury to all. The violence perpetrated by ICE is escalating. The danger to our communities is growing. As workers, we will continue to stand up–in solidarity with our neighbors–to the bullies and undemocratic authoritarians of ICE. We will not be deterred." You can read more about this in the following news articles: https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/31/labor-against-ice-portland-oregon-imm... https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/02/federal-officers-use-of-tear-gas-on-p... - *Sign pledge in support of Portland Community College faculty * Part-Time Faculty, Full-Time Faculty, and Academic Professionals at Portland Community College (PCCFFAP) have declared impasse on their contract negotiations. They have shared the following message: "The college is currently at best offering faculty a first year of Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) at 0.35%. To put that in perspective, that’s a $3.50 increase for every *thousand* earned. Please support our union as we may have to strike at the end of term." Sign to support the hardworking faculty at PCCFFAP here <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-YV0CkGpiTXvgZRF2VThEdo56ulTYQ3fEws6vwsdqlF1rLA/viewform> . - *Submit testimony to protect critical services* From Fight for our Future: "Last year, Trump signed into law $117 billion in new federal tax breaks for the richest 1% of Americans. As a result, everyone in Oregon who depends on funding for critical services - from our students and educators to patients, nurses, and first responders - could see devastating budget cuts. Lawmakers in Salem have the power to STOP Trump's tax breaks from getting copied into Oregon's state tax code, but they need to hear from US that we want them to take action." Submit testimony here <https://secure.ngpvan.com/QvgilOzUVUWqeFY8GcGU_A2>! *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. *Disability Justice and Mental Health Super Caucus*: Wednesday 2-3pm on zoom. Reach out to vp_membership@cge6069.org for the zoom link. *Grievance Committee: *A great opportunity for people to learn more about the contract and how we defend it. Meets Fridays at 4pm. Email vp_grievances@cge6069.org for more information. *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. *Environmental Justice Caucus:* Every other Monday (not next Monday!), 1pm at the Biere Library. Reach out to vp_politics@cge6069.org. In solidarity, Serena Frazee (she/her) VP for Communications, Coalition of Graduate Employees, AFT Local 6069 PhD Student in Integrative Biology, Oregon State University