EUGENE, Ore., May 1 — May Day at the University of Oregon started with a win. Administration announced it would begin implementation of an immigration enforcement alert system on Thursday, almost five months before HB 4079—lobbied for by students—takes effect.
Throughout the day, people rallied, picketed and shared resources before ending with a somber vigil for the Haymarket Eight and the named and unnamed martyrs murdered in ICE detention centers.
How did we win?
Students and workers spent weeks canvassing, class wrapping and talking to our peers, culminating in the April 10 delivery of over 2600 signatures demanding early implementation of ICE alerts, workplace protections and a standalone cultural center.
Why walk out?
Instead of heeding the work done by ASUO and the LatinX Student Coalition to research and secure preliminary funding for a Latine Cultural Center, UO administration has chosen to form its own taskforce.
Too, the UO continues to punish student worker-organizers: In the Multicultural and South, Southwest Asian and North African Centers, workers who delivered a letter asking for autonomy—in spaces won by student organizing—were told they would be non-reappointed this fall due to “role restructuring.”
What’s next?
Keep an eye on this page for further action. We have a world to win!
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