State Bargaining Campaign Kicking Off Soon!
The start of State Bargaining is just around the corner! It all begins with our bargaining survey, which will determine what our priorities will be in this bargaining cycle. Be sure to complete your survey when it opens on September 19th.
We need to start preparing now if we want to have the power to win at the bargaining table when our contract expires next year. Have a say in what happens in your workplace by getting involved in bargaining today!
OPB Bargaining Update
Thanks to our OPB workers and supporters signing petitions, purpling up, attending bargaining sessions on zoom, and showing up at the recent info picket – we are finally beginning to see some progress at the bargaining table. Organizers held the 10th bargaining session with OPB management last week.
Originally, management’s economic proposal included no guaranteed raises and no stipend. Since then, we have moved them to a guaranteed raise of 3.75% in year one and a guaranteed 1% with a merit pool of 2.5% in year two and year three. They also have agreed to provide the $1,000 stipend which represented workers should have received in July (their unrepresented coworkers got their money two months ago).
Still, management has a lot to do to come up with a more satisfactory economic package for OPB represented workers. The raises fall short of what workers got three years ago; that’s unacceptable as they continue to absorb the cost of higher prices of food, gas, and other living expenses.
A huge credit goes out to dedicated members: every inch of movement at the table is because of their commitment to getting a fair contract. We will continue to take action to show our solidarity and resolve as we meet for bargaining with OPB again later this month.
Uplift Oregon wants to hear from YOU!
Uplift Oregon provides workshops and training, rooted in equity, so that all state employees contribute to, and benefit from, a healthy, inclusive, and empowering workplace.
As Uplift Oregon looks ahead to 2023, they want to hear from you about what priorities you would recommend for their work. As state employees and leaders of SEIU 503, your feedback is critical to their work. Everyone that completes a survey will be entered into a raffle. Take a minute to complete the survey today.
Through the Uplift Oregon partnership, we created Uplift Your Benefits, a first-of-its-kind benefits training for new state employees that ends with a union new employee orientation.
Uplift Your Benefits provides new employees an overview of the incredible benefits package that’s been bargained. The training covers healthcare, the EAP, retirement, and more. UYB was created to make sure that all new staff, regardless of agency or position, had access to the same information about what their benefits are and their financial value. Fill out the survey today.
SEIU 503 Statewide Elections: Watch Your Mailbox for Your Ballot, then VOTE!
As a member of SEIU 503, you have a say in who you want at the helm to guide our Union into the next two years. Elections for statewide officers are happening now: keep your eyes peeled for your ballot to arrive in your mailbox in the next few days.
Fill it in for the candidates of your choice and send it off as soon as possible so it can be counted by the deadline. All ballots must be received by Thursday, September 22, 2022 by 12:00 noon – putting it in the mailbox by Monday, September 19th will give the postal service plenty of time to get it to its destination in time.
Do you want to learn more about the candidates running for office? Their statements are posted on our website.
Climate, Jobs, Justice Update
The latest edition of Climate, Jobs, Justice is out! Find out more about what our union is doing to center workers as we address climate change.
A standard 40-hour workweek, weekends and holidays off are because of the efforts of labor unions and our members! We will keep up our continued fight for cost-of-living pay increases, good benefits and safe working conditions.
In Unity,
SEIU Local 503