| September 6, 2001 Contact: Bob Bruce, 541-346-5958 Source: Cynthia Beckwith, 541-346-5779 Hotline Established for OUS Classified Bargaining EUGENE - The Oregon University System has established a telephone hotline to provide updated information about the on-going collective bargaining talks with its classified employees. The talks have been in mediation since August 6 when the union representing the 3,700 workers declared impasse. The new OUS hotline is 541-346-6117. It will be updated regularly and will be accessible to callers 24 hours per day, seven days a week. A 30-day cooling-off period between OUS and the union is scheduled to expire on Sept. 13. Union leaders have threatened to strike if a settlement is not reached by the start of Fall Term classes later this month. A strike could affect all seven Oregon public university campuses. |