9/2/2011: Sure, but this RG article by Diane Dietz, and the quotes by SEIU member Star Holmberg, miss the point. The union is not bargaining with UO, Jim Bean, or Richard Lariviere. They have no authority over this contract. OUS Chancellor Pernsteiner and Vice Chancellor Kenton call the shots.
So, look at them. Kenton’s new contract gives him back the furlough days – and pay – which he is currently trying to prevent the union members from getting. As for Pernsteiner, well, it must take an impressive amount of hypocrisy for a man with his perks to talk tough with staff earning $30,000 a year. He gets $26,000 from the state (tax free?) just for his mortgage payments. $7,000 for maid service. Free car. $23,120 for expenses he doesn’t even need to itemize. From what I can tell that money was supposed to go toward helping him finally get his PhD, but instead he is taking it as salary – on top of $280,900, and $12,720 in “extra retirement” money. PERS isn’t good enough? WTF? And as for OUS spokesperson Di Saunders’ comment that
“We in our office didn’t take furloughs (in the last budget),” Saunders said, “but we took a 4.6 percent salary cut, which was exactly the same as the number of furlough days as the classified staff took.”
That apparently didn’t apply to her boss. Read Steve Duin’s Oregonian post on Kenton and judge for yourself. Last year’s story on Pernsteiner here is just as damning. Here are some links to these OUS honchos:
- George Pernsteiner contracts, expenses and more expenses, resume
- Jay Kenton contracts, expenses, resume
And have there been any faculty raises lately at UO?
Yes they have. You can access salary information and compare for yourself at
http://ir.uoregon.edu/alpha
I compared 3 random faculty in CAS and compared salaries from the period March 1, 2010-May 31,2010 to salaries from the period March 1, 2011-May 31, 2011. Here were the results – no names, just departments listed and annaul rate changes:
History – from 86,644 to 92,572
Biology – from 112,545 to 124,241
Women’s Studies – from 63,355 to 66,368
From the UO Office of Institutional Research
So SOME OAs and faculty have received very nice raises during the last 2 years while classified employees have been on a pay cut. Now we are being asked to continue on a pay cut while those around us are enjoying their 5-30% pay raises….seriously!!!!! This can’t be about money..there is enough money to pay the classified employees what they are worth. We are out here working hard to give UO students a quality experience….but I guess that doesn’t add up to much…we get the message…..we are of LITTLE VALUE to the institution…
UO doesn’t negotiate the staff contract. OUS does. People are way off base attacking Lariviere and Bean on this. Go after Pernsteiner and Kenton.
UO staff is well aware they are negotiating with OUS, not Bean and Lariviere. We are also well aware, despite the denial in the RG article by OUS spokesperson Di Saunders, that similar raises have happened at other campuses also.
Most of the classified staff are of great value. However, UO Matters unfortunately right about who they have to bargain with.
Of course, Lariviere could come out and say “the classified staff have plenty of work to do and we don’t need furloughs.”
But of course, he would probably be gone in a hurry.
I wonder how much longer he has left here?
Prove that the other campuses have done widespread raises among administrators- PROVE it anonymous.
Didn’t Lariviere try to do an end-run around the state-mandated furloughs a couple years ago (by offering overtime to bring hours and pay back up) and get slapped down for it?
Dog says
some of this comment chain is quite similar
to those under the blog entry
UC gives profs and staff raises – not admins
from August 18
the same issue of did or did not CAS faculty get raises is discussed there with some similar posted research results from ir/alpha
By all means, let’s hear what’s going on at other campuses! Raises for administrators and/or faculty? Let’s hear about it. And step raises count, too.
The fact is that the UO would like to raise staff salaries and eliminate furloughs and has the money to do it. The conflict is with the OUS and the need to subsidize other campuses. Classified staff should be strong supporters of the New Partnership Plan. The status quo is bad for the UO, bad for faculty and staff, and bad for the state.
The RG article itself shows how shameless the OUS is in attempting to undermine the UO. It is really disgusting. It is almost as though they are laying a trap for the UO administration to step into so that they can fire them.
Of course they want to fire the UO administration i.e. Lariviere. But he is giving them plenty of ammo if he gave out these increases without approval of OUS, at least unless it can be shown that the other campuses are surreptitiously doing this too (entirely possible).
Even though UO is earning the money by attracting legions of out-of-staters willing to pay the freight, and even though much of this is being used in effect to subsidize all the other campuses, there is no way OUS is going to stand for UO’s independence.
And think how this is going to play with the public — the Oregon economy is tanking, the world may be on the brink of a new recession, even a great depression — and UO is giving out juicy raises!
Perhaps Lariviere is already on the way out and did this as his great legacy?
I wish everyone the best.
So you seem to be suggesting if someone is in pain we all must share that pain? If the UO is doing well, (taking in loads of new students), and is profitable, we should not give any raises because other people are hurting?
What I’m suggesting is the public reaction and the reaction of the responsible public officials, i.e. Pernsteiner, possibly Kitzhaber, probably the Legislature. Do you think I’m wrong? Do you not think Lariviere might be shown the way out because of this?
One reason UO is “doing well” is because of the 7+% tuition hike on in-state students.
Try explaining that it was needed in order to give the faculty and top administrators an average 7+% raise.
As I said, I wish everyone the best. Perhaps Pernsteiner et al. will say “Wonderful, Lariv, you did what was best for the state of Oregon.”
But I’m not holding my breath.
Well, the time has come for me to do some posting here. I am Star Holmberg, an activist with my union, SEIU 503 (or Local 085, my local here at the U.O.). I am the one who got quoted in the Friday RG article regarding administrative raises at the U.O. Though I am the alternate bargaining table representative for the SEIU-represented employees at the U.O., shedding light on the lack of a “shared sacrifice” in my conversation with an RG reporter was a personal action on my part. BTW, this bargaining season has been one of the most variable-laden I have ever been privy to. So, if my post following the second RG article (above) gets you confused, welcome to my world.
Hi Star, welcome. While providing the documents on the raises to the RG may have caused a spot of trouble, it would have come out eventually I’m sure.
I think I speak for 97% of our readers when I say we wish the staff and SEIU success in the bargaining and we hope that this unfair and inefficient furlough idea dies a quick death.
Thanks UO Matters for that 97% support. That is a welcome figure actually! BTW, about those furloughs….
I have it from very reliable sources that all the Presidents have signed off on some sort of a communication to the Chancellor (some weeks previous) that they do not want the furloughs!
The OUS team, however, wants to take something away from us, if we do not get the furloughs.
As I was telling Diane Dietz, doing furloughs in the Department of Administrative Services (though a huge nightmare when essential services to our most destitute people are snatched away for a day) involves a cut and dry closing of a department/agency for a day, and nobody works. Here at the U.O., however, not all employees are off the clock…and those that are, do so at various times. I am certain it is not a pleasant situation for Payroll.
Plus, a lot of employees were able to make up the loss through overtime (thank you very much Richard), thus making for way more overtime than usual.
An aside on this for the benefit of any classified employees who are willing to take those furloughs again…figuring they will get to do that overtime just like before:
I would not count on it. I cannot imagine Richard sticking his neck out like that again. One might have a supervisor or department head who would gladly offer it; but the granting of overtime would likely not be so prevalent across the board, as they would not be encouraged by any high level administrator to do so.
Star