Things are starting to move at the bargaining table! We’ve made some tentative agreements with management on several non-economic issues, and we expect to dig into economic issues — wages, benefits, and Paid Time Off— at our next session.  The bargaining team will be sitting down for our next session in late May, after the Legislature clarifies how much revenue will be available to state agencies. We are hopeful that we’ll have won on revenue reform by then!

Over the last two days we have had the pleasure of being joined by child welfare workers, who gave a presentation to management about the work they do, the chronic recruitment and retention problems, and the need for staffing and workload relief. Members from Child Welfare recently had a very successful lobby day in Salem that was covered by most major media outlets in the state. We have a few different proposals we’re fighting for that will bring relief to our child welfare workers, and this presentation was one important step in that process.

Click here to register for the United For A Better Oregon rally.

Winning meaningful raises and protecting benefits is our top priority. As we prepare to push management beyond their insulting initial proposals (see chart below for a reminder of how our economic proposals compare to management’s), we know that in order to win, we must pass revenue reform at the legislature and ensure they pass a budget that works for us.

We encourage everyone to support the revenue bill by posting on social media, but the best thing you and your coworkers can do to fight for revenue is to show up, in person, on May 20 in Salem and send a message directly to the people in charge. It’s time to fund public services and support the people who provide them!

Click here to register for the United For A Better Oregon rally.

We need all your voices to make sure we’re heard loud and clear!

 

CURRENT STATUS OF CORE ECONOMIC PROPOSALS

 

Term of Agreement	·   2-year term expiring 6/30/21	·   4-year term expiring 6/3/23 ·   Economic re-opener 6/30/21
Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)	·   7/1/19 – 5% ·  7/1/20 – 5%	·   7/1/19 – 1.68% ·   7/1/20 – 1% ·    No COLAs guaranteed in years 3 and 4
Steps	·   2 additional steps added to each salary range ·   Steps in every year of the contract	·   Steps in year 1 and 2 ·     No guarantee of steps in years 3 and 4
Health Insurance	No increase to health insurance premium share rates for duration of contract	·  Status quo on health insurance premium share rates for years 1 and 2 ·   Bargain premium share rates for years 3 and 4
Longevity	All workers “topped out” for more than 12 months will get a step on 7/1/19	No proposal
Salary Floor	Create full salary ranges for our lowest-paid workers who are in ranges with fewer than 9 steps	No proposal