Police charge 6 after May Day marchers block traffic downtown

Presenter: Eugene Police said they charged six after May Day marchers in Eugene blocked traffic, including a Lane Transit District bus. Here are highlights from the rally just before the march:

Ben Mannix: Hi, everyone. I’m Ben. I’m a physics Ph.D. student at UO and a proud member of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, GTFF. We’re here today on May 1, International Workers’ Day, May Day, and also known as Labor Day everywhere else in the world, to gather and celebrate our value and power as workers in our community.

[00:00:38] In our union, GTFF, we teach a lot of the classes and perform a lot of the research done at UO. If we stop working, UO stops working.

[00:00:47] And we got to see that power in our contract bargaining last year. About 48 hours before our strike was set to begin, UO finally agreed to our demands for wage increases. It was empowering and a huge shout-out to our campus labor siblings, UOSW, who are exercising their power to strike right now at UO on campus.

[00:01:13] Now, at the same time GTFF was negotiating, United Auto Workers was also bargaining. Their president, Shawn Fain, proposed an interesting idea. He said all of our contracts expire May 1, 2028. Could we align union contracts across the nation to expire on May 1, 2028, a general strike?

[00:01:36] It was an interesting idea and it got our members excited. So we formed our group in the GTFF to start thinking this through. But it became quickly apparent that it wasn’t a matter of just our individual union participating. If something like this was actually to be pulled off, it would need broad support across the community.

[00:01:55] It’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of community building, and a lot of solidarity investment. We need to ask ourselves: What do we care about enough to fight for? What do our coworkers care enough about? What do our neighbors care enough about? How can we bolster labor organizing and community organizing in our city?

[00:02:13] How do we get a whole community and a whole nation of people to stand up to those in power and say, ‘Enough is enough! We don’t work for you until you work for us.’ In the times we live in, people are craving mass action.

[00:02:31] So thank you all for being here and happy May Day everyone!

[00:02:41] August: Hello, everyone. My name is August. I use they / he pronouns. I’m a fourth-year at University of Oregon, studying Native American and environmental studies. I’m a member of University of Oregon Student Workers. I am on our bargaining team and our executive committee.

There are thousands of student workers on strike right now. They are marching, they are chanting, they are standing together, this has never happened before. This is historic.

[00:03:18] This is day four. We have been out there for four days from five a.m. until 11 p.m. We have turned away deliveries. We have stopped construction. Workplaces are closing early or not opening at all because they don’t have student workers.

And we are being threatened with expulsion, suspension, probation, arrest. There are police present at every time we are around. This is not okay!

[00:03:51] We have been bargaining for our first contract for 11 months. They initially refused to talk to us about articles like harassment, discrimination, grievance, and arbitration. These are basic articles. We deserve to feel safe in our workplaces.

[00:04:06] Student workers cannot make rent, they cannot eat, they cannot pay their bills. We are going into debt because they do not pay us enough. (Shame!)

[00:04:18] They also revealed that they are splitting the role of resident assistants. Resident assistants will no longer get full coverage. They will have to pay for 50 to 75% of their room and meal costs in order to do their jobs.

[00:04:38] There are RAs on strike right now, and they are being charged on their student accounts for thousands of dollars of room and meal plans because they are on strike. (Shame!)

[00:04:51] UO is taking away meal points for striking RAs. UO is not supporting its workers. They are making higher education completely inaccessible for the most vulnerable students.

[00:05:07] This is an urgent matter. Registration for summer classes starts on the 5th, and if these charges are not covered, students cannot register for summer classes…

[00:05:18] I am alone here. There are no other student workers here because everyone else is on the picket line. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I am going to now return to the picket line and I hope you have an incredible May Day, an incredible march and protest. Thank you.

[00:05:41] Lisa Jenkins-Easton: My name is Lisa Jenkins-Easton. I am the president of Oregon School Employees Association, Eugene Chapter 1. We represent 1,100 classified workers in Eugene 4J.

[00:06:01] Recently we’ve been dealing with some budget smoke and mirrors. You may have heard about this. The district created a system where classified workers had to come and show up and beg for their jobs. This impacted 83 of my 1,100 workers, who are all direct support professionals in our school; 21 of our 30 school sites had cuts that were completely eliminated or hours reduced.

The impact to our students will be immense. Trusted adults who are there this year will be gone next year. These are all school-based and we depend on them.

[00:06:44] Our next bargaining session is open to the public. We fought really hard to have that happen. So the next session is on May 9 from 1:30 to 7 p.m. at the Ed Center, 200 N. Monroe. Thank you.

[00:07:04] Sabrina Gordon: Hey everybody! My name is Sabrina Gordon. I am the president of Eugene Education Association. We represent all the licensed staff in 4J and in Bethel, as well as the substitute teachers in 4J, about 1,600 members strong. I just want to give a big shout-out and thank you to the GTFF for organizing this event.

[00:07:33] As politicians and billionaires come after our public schools, we will not back down.

[00:07:42] School district budgets should reflect the values our community holds for educating our kids. The 4J school district is developing next year’s budget right now and educators, parents, students, and community members are speaking up together to keep budget cuts as far away from our classrooms as possible.

[00:08:03] Too often, 4J holds back funds while students suffer. Now is not the time to build a budget based on fear. We need our community to speak up. Attend the public hearing at 4J on Wednesday next week.

[00:08:29] Presenter: After the speeches, protesters marched, and Eugene police reported charging six with disorderly conduct. One of the six was also charged with aggravated harassment, a felony.

Follow the GTFF, UO Student Workers, and the PSL on social media.

Field recordings by Todd Boyle for KEPW News 97.3, Resistance Radio for Eugene Springfield and the Upper Willamette.