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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Guest Opinion: Medford should strive to be more like Bend ... Poison in the well ... Gold Hill rallies to save IOOF Lodge ... Guest Opinion: Medford should strive to be more like Bend ... Poison in the well ... Gold Hill rallies to save IOOF Lodge ... UNIVERSITY OF OREGON Teaching assistant strike goes into weekend Negotiations break down, to resume on Tuesday Comment By Diane Dietz The Eugene Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Diane Dietz The Eugene Register-Guard Posted Dec. 7, 2014 at 2:00 AM By Diane Dietz The Eugene Register-Guard Posted Dec. 7, 2014 at 2:00 AM » Social News Bargaining to settle the ongoing graduate student teacher strike at the University of Oregon broke up at 5 p.m. Friday — just in time for the Ducks’ football kick-off in California. But there was no settlement to celebrate. “Let’s all remember,” interim President Scott Coltrane said in a statement Friday, “we’re part of this shared university community. I hope to be able to take some time, either at the Matthew Knight Arena watch party or at home, to enjoy tonight’s Pac-12 championship game as a reminder of the passion we feel for our University of Oregon.” Coltrane said bargainers will reconvene on Tuesday; but Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation lead negotiator Amber Cooper said the union won’t go unless the administration is prepared to discuss some form of paid medical or parental leave. The demand for two weeks of leave has been the major sticking point during the past two weeks of the yearlong negotiations. On Tuesday, the GTFF launched the first-ever strike in the local union’s 38-year history. The campus was filled with circling pickets and chants all week. The graduate teaching fellows said they’ll shift their pickets to Portland today and march in front of university’s metropolitan campus in the White Stag block, 70 N.W. Couch St. “GTFs feel frustrated that they’ve now been on strike for four days,” Cooper said, “and they care deeply about their students, and it’s hard on the graduate employees to have to go this long without a fair contract — and to (not) be able to go back to work.” On Friday, the university reported that 9 percent of GTFs failed to show up for classes — but that doesn’t count the classes that were canceled in advance. In other developments, Sanipac drivers who are members of Teamsters No. 206 are, in some cases, refusing to pick up the University of Oregon’s garbage. The GTFs don’t have a count of how many trucks were deflected from the early morning picket lines. “We just know we’ve stopped some of the Sanipac trucks,” Cooper said. The United Academics, which represents 1,800 UO faculty, is protesting administration plans to — in some cases — assign final grades in GTF-led classes based on student work turned in up to Dec. 1. “(The administration) politicized the grading system at the University of Oregon in order to limit the tactical leverage of the GTFF. They compromised the core academic integrity of the grading process in order to win in this labor battle,” said Michael Dreiling, sociology professor and president of the United Academics. “They’re using it, at minimum, as a power play or a point of leverage — to say you can’t win this strike. We’ve got grades covered.” In a brief statement, W. Andrew Marcus, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the university is acting on behalf of undergraduate students. “Our first responsibility is always to our students,” he said. “In a departmental situation when GTFs are on strike and faculty were unwilling to step in (with early grades), we took the option that best protects students.” Coltrane’s statement continued: “While next week is crunch time for our students that will be taking final exams, it is also crunch time for those who need to complete grading and implement contingency plans. Let’s keep pulling together so that our students continue to be minimally impacted by this challenging situation. Regardless of your perspective, send positive thoughts to those at the bargaining table. No one wants to see a strike continue and we will stay in mediation for as long as it takes to find agreement.” By Diane Dietz The Eugene Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Diane Dietz The Eugene Register-Guard Posted Dec. 7, 2014 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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