Update on OUR Union

Fellow staff,

Since our last update in December, many more staff in Student & Instructional Services have become members of our union, University Staff United. With the support of a majority of our colleagues, we now expect to move forward to official recognition in the coming weeks. That recognition will give us the legal right to bargain with University management over the decisions that affect our work and our lives.

But the right to bargain is only half the picture. Our ability to win the changes we need depends on our collective power. We, USU members, must be numerous enough, engaged enough, outspoken enough to demand respect. For many of us, respect means being paid for our skills, our growing experience, and the value of our work. It means the security to stand up for ourselves and each other when we’re mistreated. What would it mean to you to be respected as a full and equal member of our community?

To claim that respect, we will all have to do our part as active contributors to this shared project. We’ll have to talk with our coworkers, both near and far, help give them the courage to join us, and decide together what changes to push for and what good things to defend. We’ll have to show up, trust one another, and demonstrate to management that every one of us is watching. We can’t accept being second class any longer. Let’s do this together.

PS: we’ve recently learned from faculty allies that the benefits system will allow you to sign up your partner, spouse, or child as a dependent on your University health insurance even if that person is also a UM employee. In almost all cases, this is likely to cost you thousands of dollars more each year than if you had each enrolled separately. If you are in this situation, you should contact Benefits right away and ask to be switched (even outside Open Enrollment), and please also let us know so that we can track the scope of the problem.