Thank you, Theo and Jane. I need to move over to the podium. I think as an agent of change, I probably have something to say. Are any other past UO Senators representing Classified Staff here? Ed, Cheri, Mandy, Star, Janny, Lexy, Sue Plummer, Sue Martinez?? Please stand. I’d like to say, that each one of the folks standing is deserving of this award as well! Each one of these Classified Staff has held me up when I stumbled or fell down. They have seen me at my worst, and helped pick up the slack of what needed to be done! I’d especially like to recognize Ed who stood with me and worked tirelessly for 8 years with everyone standing as well to get equal voting rights on the UO Senate for Classified Staff.It’s a group effort to make change. I don’t do the work alone!Next, I’d like to take a moment to thank Nathan for involving the Classified Staff in the UO Senate each of us have taken this office seriously and are proud to serve OUR University. If it weren’t for Nathan, we wouldn’t be on the UO Senate. Thank you for all you do Nathan!Thank you! I’d like to also thank the folks who nominated me for this award, Jason and others, thank you for recognizing the work that we do together!Now, I’d like to say Hi to my parents who are joining us from Indiana via the internet. Love you Mom and Dad, it’s your little girl Carla up here!
One of our fellow Past UO Senators, Star Holmberg, always tells people that if you’re happy about something, get involved! Star is right! So, I did!I got involved! For a number of years, our UO Senate talking points for Classified Staff have been Professional Development, Diversity, and Respectful Workplace Environment. I would like to spend some time talking today talking about Respectful Workplace. Working somewhere is not just about the money, whereas a raise is always nice. It’s about respect and the way we are treated! So, when I tell you that…
- Many of us are fearful of retaliation, verbal or physical threats as we enter our workplace every day
- Many of us are harassed and bullied on a daily basis at work
- Some of us have been physically assaulted in our workplace
- Many of us are asked to go above and beyond the call of duty by being asked to do things that are illegal, unethical,and immoral
- Many of us have not been “made whole”
- Many of us have had our confidentiality betrayed when we report the abuses we face
- Many of us have asked for help from multiple sources on campus
- Many of us havehad our jobs threatened for speaking up against the corruption in our units
- Some of us have even lost our jobs for speaking up
Talking with one of my colleagues yesterday, she reminded me, what if we reframed the discussion regarding a respectful workplace to a discussion about class or gender or age or religion or race and ethnicity? Would the conversation with administration for help change?Would we be heard? Would we get the help we need?Oh,but the conversation of a respectful work place is all about class, gender, age, religion, race and ethnicity. It is! It is all of these things!
President Lariviere, on the first week you arrived on campus, a group of Classified Staff shared with you that there is a campus wide problem with regards to all three of our issues;Professional Development, Diversity, and especially Respectful Workplace. It’s gotten worse, and we need your help!Many of us are trying to make a difference from the bottom up, but we need your staff to meet us in the middle from the top down. We have asked to have a committee of Classified Staff and administrators to work together on this specific issue of respectful workplace and we have been turned down. Whereas the Labor Management Committee per our Article 57 is talking about the subject, it’s not enough! Human Resource’s solution is to have people come to HR and tell them about their hostile work environments,but people are scared. I personally, as one steward of many,am working with three Classified Staff members that are afraid to come forward and report what’s happening in their workplace. There is no trust!They’re sacred of retaliation! They’re scared of losing their job, because of what they’ve seen happen to others. We need your help to make our workplaces a good place to be!There are several folks in administration that I can think of off the top of my head that would be great people to work together as a team for a more respectful workplace for Classified Staff. Dave Hubin, you’re one of them. And there’s Tim Black and Brian Smith; all three examples of upper administrators who treat all people with kindness and respect. So, please, please!! We need your help from the top down President Lariviere! We’re working hard from down here, and we need your help from up there!Hopefully, you hear our plea!
In closing, I want to recognize the other two awardees,–Shelley and John, it’s my pleasure to be sandwiched between both of you today. A special thanks to the FAB 4, your forever love, friendship, and support keeps me going! To my cohort in the CSSE program, it’s my privilege for to learn with you and from you! To the THIRTY! Keep finding your bliss! Go out into the world and make positive change! To the OMAS front desk staff, you may not realize, it is because of all of you that I keep coming to work each day! ¡Besos y abrazos! That is why we, Classified Staff,come to work each day, for you, the students! If you’re a Classified Staff person here today, please stand up. This is for all of you, and for those of you that can’t get away from your desk and watching streaming live, this is for you too. We are over 1500 strong on our campus!
Lastly, I’d like to thank my parents! Emilio, dije que no lloro yo, pero tú me conoces. Thank you Mom and Dad for passing down the foundation from my grandparent through both of you, of service to others!