On a sun-bathed quad at Oregon Health & Science University today, students and health workers in scrubs were lounging and lunching on the grass, or strolling to and fro. Nearby was a green tent, a pile of Hotlips Pizza boxes, and a rising din, produced by members of a nascent research workers union—representing some 1,800 OHSU staff—who, as they seek a first contract, say they are displeased with the university’s recent offer.

They were chanting to fill some time before the return of the small delegation which had just entered Mackenzie Hall with a petition, which it planned to deliver to the new president of the institution, Shereef Elnahal. The delegation had promised to return promptly and report on how the visit went.

The basic issue at hand was money. Relations with the university h

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