State members are in the middle of ratifying one of the most historic contracts our union has ever seen. With COLAs of over 13% over two years, a one-time $1,500 bonus, and much more, this contract can change the lives of thousands of State workers. The votes are coming in, and many members are excited to cast their votes for the Tentative Agreement! Allyse Lee from DHS in Salem recently shared the following:
“I’m voting yes on the TA as it’s a huge win for all of us, the language changes negotiated, the bonus pay, the COLAs are almost triple what we got in 2021/2022, and no increase to our health care. For my family, it’s more than enough. It also can be a historical contract and not be enough at the same time. Folks who are saying a no strike vote is the solution, but if you go that way you are risking reopening everything we won at the table currently. No money in people’s pockets on Sept 1 bonus so those who are struggling will wait longer for relief. To me, let’s get this ratified. If you want change, let’s get more members between now and 2025, let’s petition legislation now and ongoing. Let’s have an actual strike plan in place that would cripple and make an impact rather than the 11% who signed the strike pledge. Let’s work with AFSME so they don’t counter lower the day before we have planned worksite actions. If majority vote no, I’ll honor that and not cross the picket line and try to recruit as many as I can to strike too. But I don’t think this is the time when we are getting historical huge raises. It would be spin easily by the media as “greedy state workers” rather than “massive understaffing crisis and still wages won’t match inflation”.
State workers have been in crisis with understaffing, massive workloads and wages not matching inflation. Our bargaining team with the collective action of members in our union fought hard to get us the best possible TA – and for the wins it gets us, I voted yes. We never have had the state agree to go over the allotted budget so let’s vote yes, get our bonuses, get the amazing COLAs, and start preparing for 2025 to be even better!”
Read the full TA summary here.
VOTING IS NOW OPEN! E-ballots have been sent to every State member via email, so please make sure that you are subscribed to union emails. If you haven’t received the email, call the Member Assistance Center at 1-844-503-7348.