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Unions tell House committee Oregon higher education needs sustained funding, pay parity and transparency
Summary
Representatives of AFT Oregon, OEA, SEIU and AAUP testified that Oregon's public higher-education institutions are underfunded, relying increasingly on low-paid adjunct and contingent labor, and urged the legislature to fund pay parity, increase state support and require more transparency from university foundations.
Multiple labor organizations told the House Committee on Higher Education on Jan. 28 that Oregon's public colleges and universities face chronic underfunding, increases in contingent adjunct labor and staffing pressures that threaten services and student success.
"Teaching conditions and working conditions are also the learning conditions for our students," Ariana Jacob, president of AFT Oregon, said, urging stable funding, improved pay for adjunct faculty and measures to prevent what she described as a shift toward precarious adjunct labor.
Why it matters: Union speakers called for concrete legislative changes including community college pay parity, greater budget transparency for public-university foundations and funding to stabilize workforce and students' supports. They argued state investment is necessary to retain staff and faculty and to preserve programs that feed the state's workforce.
AFT testified that Oregon ranks 35th in the nation for the…
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