QuickTake

After speeches at the Erb Memorial Union, SEIU 503 members marched to Johnson Hall chanting, as union leaders criticized UO spending priorities.

More than 100 members of the University of Oregon’s classified staff union rallied Friday, May 15, outside Erb Memorial Union to protest what union leaders say is a university proposal to freeze wages amid UO’s $65 million budget shortfall.

The administration is trying to balance the budget “on the backs of the folks who make this campus work,” said Rieley Umphress, bargaining delegate for Service Employees International Union 503, which represents 1,500 classified staff at UO.

In a statement Thursday, SEIU 503 said that during a recent bargaining session, university administrators proposed a four-year contract that includes no wage increases or cost-of-living adjustments.

UO officials did not respond to requests for comment, and Lookout Eugene-Springfield could not independently corroborate the union’s characterization of the UO proposal.

The current contract between the university and the union, which includes staffers in health care, facilities, administrative support, dining services and information technology expires June 30, and the proposed one would run from July 2026 to June 2030.

“We’ve seen decades of disinvestment from our schools by the state, poor management and administrative bloat, wishful thinking that private donors will give enough to keep us whole, and untenable tuition increases,” UO SEIU President Jennifer Smith told Lookout Eugene-Springfield regarding the $65 million budget shortfall. “The university is able to cry poverty while building new dorms and giving unbelievable salary packages to upper administrators.”

At the rally, multiple union leaders criticized UO’s spending priorities. They warned that layoffs, UO President Karl Scholz’s recently implemented hiring freeze and stagnant wages would further strain workers already struggling with housing and transportation costs, as well as high gas prices amid the Iran war.

“They’re balancing the budget on the folks who can barely drive to their jobs because they can’t afford gas,” Umphress said.

Following speeches at the EMU amphitheater, demonstrators marched to Johnson Hall, the administration building where Scholz’s office is located. They entered the building chanting “union power” and “fair contract.”

The next bargaining session will take place later this month, according to union officials and the UO bargaining team website.