Support grows for striking faculty at Oregon Institute of Technology
Oregon Tech faculty picket line (Photo: OT-AAUP Facebook)
The struggle is the first public university faculty strike in the state’s history, and the first contract being negotiated by the Oregon Tech chapter of the American Association of University Professors (OT-AAUP) since it was established in late-2018 to cover full-time faculty, instructors and librarians.
Dozens of faculty, staff and students showed their support on picket lines in the first days of the strike at the main OIT campus in Klamath Falls, a small city in the southern part of Oregon near Medford. There are also smaller groups of faculty on strike at the Wilsonville campus, as well as five dental hygiene professors who work at an Oregon Tech program based at Chemeketa Community College in Salem. According to one post on Twitter, local K-12 teachers even joined the picket line on Tuesday.
As strike deadline approaches, Oregon Tech officials seek state injunction to prevent walkout
Approximately 200 full-time faculty at the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) in Klamath Falls in southern Oregon may strike on April 26 if an agreement is not reached between the university and Oregon Tech-American Association of University Professors (OT-AAUP). The union said 92 percent of members voted in favor of the strike authorization on April 2, with nearly the entire membership taking part in the vote.
In a last minute effort to block a strike, management has sought an injunction with the Oregon Employment Relations Board. OIT has also filed an unfair labor relations complaint against the OIT-AAUP, claiming failure to bargain in good faith. The union said its lawyer was reviewing the OIT filing, calling it a “delay tactic.”