Members of University of Oregon Student Workers (UOSW) may be approaching a strike. UOSW declared an impasse and submitted its final offer March 19, days after a 94.5% vote to authorize a strike. The unit of about 4,000 undergraduate student workers voted to unionize in October 2023 and has spent 10 months negotiating a first contract.
The union is seeking more frequent paychecks and a starting wage of $21 per hour. Student workers are paid once a month, but the union wants two paychecks per month. UOSW bargaining team member Izzie Marshall told the Labor Press the university often pays workers late, so they can go more than a month between paychecks. UOSW said the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has issued two warnings to the university for violating state law that prohibits paychecks more than 35 days apart…