Oregon Tech faculty union votes to authorize strike

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Institute of Technology’s faculty union has voted to authorize a strike.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the vote last week comes more than 500 days after negotiations began between the union and school administration.

Oregon Tech’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors is demanding salary increases and more clearly defined workload limits, among other requests.

The union said as of Friday, 96% of faculty had cast their votes, and 92% of those votes were in favor of authorizing a strike.

It is not guaranteed that the faculty will strike, but union leadership can now call for one if an agreement is not reached.