University of Oregon
PAE-11: Sustainable Compensation

1) For Service Employees International Union (SEIU) employees, UO Human Resources conducted a 2007 salary survey to determine where the Oregon University System is paying classified jobs below market rates, and to review the classifications where we have recruitment or retention problems. During bargaining in 2007, the monthly salary of $1854.00 was identified by SEIU as a “living wage.” All of the teamsters earn over this amount, while the lowest paid SEIU employees earn right at that amount (or, within $5 of that amount).

2) For faculty, the UO has a policy in place to review their salaries for equity. http://policies.uoregon.edu/policy/by/1/03000-human-resources/equity-salary-review
UO Faculty and Administration earn salaries along with generous health insurance and retirement plans.

For Officers of Administration (OAs), the UO strives to provide compensation in an equitable manner that recognizes and rewards individual differences in employee responsibilities, qualifications, skills, and job performance. Pay for OAs is determined in a number of ways, including the job responsibilities as documented in the position description, professionally recognized salary studies and market salary information for comparable positions, and internal equity considerations. The UO has numerous policies that determine OA pay and benefits, including equity salary review. More information is found here: http://hr.uoregon.edu/oa/

3) For Graduate Teaching Fellows, a new collective bargaining agreement was negotiated between the UO and the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation in August 2010. It is found here: http://hr.uoregon.edu/er/GTFFContract20102012.pdf

In addition, for contractors (even though those numbers were not provided here), the UO abides by State of Oregon and Oregon University System laws and guidelines. The UO makes every effort to operate responsibly within these parameters. The UO meets the Oregon minimum wage rules and the institution ensures that employees of contractors are compensated according to Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries standards and regulations.

As of Fall 2010, here are the UO employee totals (as provided by Randy Wardlow with Employee and Labor Relations):

Faculty: 1771
Classified Staff: 1525
OA's: 1124
GTFs: 1231
Teamsters: 14

The numbers above do not include contractors, yet the information on policies guiding their pay still stands. There is no clear definition of what a "contractor" is. Our Business Affairs Office considers "contractor" to include positions ranging from guest lecturers to constuction workers- which is a very difficult range of jobs to determine a "sustainable compensation for."

Information about SEIU and teamster pay was provided by Joan Walker with the UO Office of Institutional Research.