Portland State University’s adjunct faculty union recently won an unfair labor practice case against Portland State University (PSU) over the withholding of special benefit funds. The outcome was a victory for the Portland State University Faculty Association (PSUFA), but adjuncts at the university are still shaken by PSU’s actions amid ongoing contract negotiations. 

The union and university are currently in the middle of bargaining for their next contract, as their previous collective bargaining agreement expired on June 30. In August, PSU refused to administer benefit funds, including financial assistance from a fund often used for rent and groceries, to adjunct faculty who requested it. The move was deemed bad faith bargaining by the Oregon Employee Relations Board. 

The board ruled PSUFA members were entitled to the funds even after the contract expired. By withholding them, PSU failed to uphold the status quo requiring employers to maintain benefits for union employees even after a contract’s expiration. As a result, the board ordered PSU to release the funds, with interest, and post a notice of wrongdoing for PSUFA-represented employees. 

This was the first instance of PSUFA filing an unfair labor practice charge against the university in the union’s 46-year history. Multiple union members say PSU’s actions shook their faith in the university and caused them serious financial stress.  

Gina Rose, an adjunct instructor in PSU’s School of Social Work and PSUFA member, said she planned to use the assistance funds to pay for rent in August, when the funds would normally be released. Her children’s father passed away recently, and she had to adjust to being a single parent, adding to financial stress. 

“The union emailed and said, ‘Hey, PSU is refusing to release these funds, which isn't typical of them,’” Rose said. “They usually do release funds and there was no communication from PSU saying [they intended not to.]”

Rose got her bachelors and masters degrees at PSU and has been an adjunct faculty member since 2011. She found their actions deeply disheartening after more than 20 years of involvement with the university.

Dan Howell, another adjunct, said he was relying on the assistance funds to stay afloat in the summer when he is not getting paid for teaching. He said friends were able to support him financially, but he otherwise would have faced significant housing instability. 

Howell said he sees PSU administrative staff as fellow “victims of this really exploitative university system that relies on significantly undervalued and/or free labor to function.” 

“It's just really disheartening that they are now in positions where they could create systems that do value adjuncts,” Howell said. “They could very much undo this sort of cycle of exploitation, or at least reduce the harm from the cycle of exploitation, and instead they are expanding it.”

PSU leaders maintain they were aware of how important these funds are to employees, opting to resolve the issue at the bargaining table. PSUFA saw the bargaining table as an unnecessary attempt to achieve concessions from the union, while also setting a bad precedent to negotiate funds that union members are already entitled to. 

Erica Thomas, PSUFA’s co-chair of communications, called PSU’s actions “union-busting.” Union members also say PSU President Ann Cudd has a history of anti-union activity. When Cudd was the provost at the University of Pittsburgh, the university spent over $2 million on a law firm specializing in “union avoidance.” 

PSU has denied the union-busting allegations, saying they are not consistent with the board’s ruling. The board ruled PSU’s proposal was a good-faith attempt to distribute the funds immediately and denied PSUFA’s request for the university to pay the union’s $300 filing fee. 

PSU was also recently ordered to reinstate 10 non-tenure track faculty after violating the collective bargaining agreement with their union, the American Association of University Professors. The faculty members received notice of layoff in December 2024, a major point of contention during contract bargaining last spring.

The sparring between PSU and its adjunct union comes at a challenging time for the university, which recently announced $35 million in cuts between 2026 and 2028 as a part of its Bridge to the Future 2.0 plan. Many universities across Oregon are facing budget shortfalls, due in part to below-average public funding and impacts from the Trump administration.

PSU says they won’t do “across-the-board” cuts—$35M is equivalent to about 220 full-time employees—but this hasn’t quelled concern about layoffs. 

Many employees have expressed fear that PSU’s method of cutting faculty and courses to deal with budget deficits will create a downward spiral of declining enrollment and revenue. PSU’s faculty senate previously passed a vote of no confidence regarding the original Bridge to the Future plan.

“It's totally nonsensical to cut services and then expect that somehow enrollment would magically go up later,” Erica Thomas said.