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Vol 3, Issue 13

By Joe DiNicola, President, SEIU Local 503, OPEU

July 5, 2007
Independence Day has come and gone but SEIU Local 503, OPEU members say there’s still time to set off some fireworks to get management’s undivided attention. More than 30,000 Homecare, University System and State workers watched their contracts expire at the end of June. But as baseball legend Yogi Berra says, “It ain’t over till it’s over."

In this issue of President Joe’s Journal, DAS and OUS members reject management’s economic offer for the 2007-2009 contracts and rally for a fair deal, Homecare members demand dignity and respect at the bargaining table and PERS retirees win big in Multnomah County Circuit Court. At the Capitol, SEIU Local 503, OPEU members make history and officially welcome Adult Foster Care providers into our great union.

In this issue: DAS and OUS Members Hit the Streets    Homecare Stands Up for Dignity and Respect   PERS Retirees Win Double Victory Members Make History at the Capitol

DAS and OUS Members Hit the Streets

Members all over Oregon rallied Friday, June 29 to send a message to Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and Oregon University System (OUS) managers. With the contract set to expire on June 30, members uniformly said, "No way!" to the current management offer of 2% raises and no guarantee on health insurance.

In Salem, nearly 500 workers gathered to march through the Revenue and ODOT buildings before moving on to the Capitol Mall. Next, members delivered petitions with 7000 signatures to Tim Nesbitt, representing Governor Ted Kulongoski. The petitions demand cost-of-living (COLA) raises at least equal to inflation, maintenance of current health insurance benefits and a response to our living wage proposal on behalf of the lowest-paid workers in the state.

In Corvallis, about 175 members gathered for a rally on the Oregon State University (OSU) campus. Members from DAS locals in the Corvallis area joined OSU members to hear a bargaining update and deliver petitions to OSU President Ray. This impressive show of solidarity in Corvallis followed a spirited rally of 100 members the previous week at the Portland State University (PSU) campus. In many state offices and on university campuses, members stood up in unison at 10:00 AM on June 28 in a demonstration of unity and resolve.

Members have made a difference because the State has increased its offer from 1% to 2%, but everyone knows a raise that doesn’t equal inflation is really a pay cut. Members everywhere also demand action on a living wage proposal. Do you think it's fair to ask someone to work full-time for the State of Oregon on a salary so low that it qualifies a worker for food stamps?

Finally, after more than ten years of pay increases that have not kept pace with inflation, SEIU Local 503, OPEU members cannot accept a take-back on health insurance in this contract.

What happens next? Management has agreed to extend both the DAS and OUS contracts by 30 days and members are back at the bargaining table today in Salem.

It's time to turn up the heat. Everyone altogether now loud and clear: “We need a real raise, not a raw deal raise!"

Homecare Stands Up for Dignity and Respect

During the 2007 legislative session, members fought hard for funding so that Homecare providers could earn a living wage and make sure that Homecare clients could count on a stable workforce and know they will receive quality care. That’s what it's all about &#mdash; dignity and respect for workers and for clients who depend on them.

Here's what Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and the Homecare Commission have proposed for the current Homecare contract:

  • A pay cut in the form of a sub-minimum wage of $4.05.
  • Homecare workers pay for healthcare premium increases.
  • Only one $.23 raise for lower acuity care.
  • pay freeze for higher acuity care.

If these Homecare Commission and DAS proposals are adopted, Homecare providers, Homecare clients and the Homecare program will suffer. Members made incredible gains in the first two Homecare contracts. Now it's up to all of us to stand together to support quality care and help win a fair contract for Homecare.

Let's fill the Salem headquarters building with purple and tell the State in no uncertain terms, "We're all in this together!" at the next Homecare bargaining session.

PERS Retirees Win Double Victory

Last month, PERS retirees won a huge victory in Multnomah County Court. SEIU Local 503, OPEU, along with other members of the PERS coalition, prevailed in both the Arken and Robinson cases. Judge Henry Kantor ruled that retirees are entitled to the full amount of their retirement benefits.

Judge Kantor ordered PERS to cease and desist collection action against retirees. He further told PERS to immediately begin to pay back any money improperly collected from retirees as a result of the "Lipscomb settlement" and the subsequent re-calculation of 1999 PERS earnings.

Here are some additional comments from attorney Greg Hartman about recent newspaper reports that got the details wrong about the Arken and Robinson decisions:

“Unfortunately both the Oregonian and to a lesser extent the Statesman Journal significantly misstate Judge Kantor's decision. The issue before Judge Kantor is whether it was appropriate for the PERS board to collect alleged overpayments to retirees arising out of the redistribution of 1999 income. Judge Kantor ruled clearly and unequivocally that it was not appropriate for the PERS board to make those collections and ordered that they cease and that the monies that were improperly collected be returned to the retirees.

"The issue of whether it is appropriate for the PERS board to now charge active members or whether there may be some other source for those payments was not before Judge Kantor. Both the Oregonian and the Statesman Journal are incorrect when they state or imply that Judge Kantor approved charging those expenses to active employees. In fact during the argument of the case PERS made the point that in their opinion it would be improper and a breach of their fiduciary obligation to attempt to collect those payments from active employees. As you know from our previous discussions if the PERS board decides to collect from active employees through charging the amounts to administrative expenses, that action will be vigorously contested.

"We will keep you posted on developments but I wanted to reassure you that the public portrayal of this case by the newspapers is substantially incorrect."

SEIU Local 503, OPEU members continue to fight to protect pension benefits promised to both active and retired plan participants. "When you take one of us on, you take all of us on!"

Members Make History at the Capitol

In the closing hours of the 2007 Legislative session, the Oregon House of Representatives agreed with the Oregon Senate and voted to grant collective bargaining rights to Adult Foster Care providers. This bill codified the executive order signed by Governor Kulongoski on June 1, 2007 and follows another major organizing victory on behalf of Oregon Childcare providers earlier this spring.

With these two victories, the 2007 Oregon Legislature has expanded collective bargaining rights further than any Oregon legislature since 1973, the year the Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA) was adopted.

Congratulations to Childcare providers, Adult Foster Care providers and every member who stepped up to talk to legislators, knock on doors, make phone calls and gather signatures. You made history!