State Bargaining 2025 Tentative Agreement

Your Central Table Bargaining Team has reached a Tentative Agreement with state management—thanks to the strength, unity, and actions of members like you from across Oregon.

After months of negotiations—including long hours in the final days of bargaining, plus last week’s marathon sessions—your elected bargaining team secured a contract early this morning at 5:21am that provides meaningful improvements in wages, benefits, equity, and job security.

This victory wasn’t just won at the table—it was won by YOU. Every action we took together—purpling up on the job, showing up at rallies and informational pickets, contacting decision makers by phone and email—made a difference and helped win this agreement.

Here are the highlights:

Economic Justice

• COLAs totaling more than 6.5% over the life of the contract
  • This will include a 2.5% COLA on 2/1/26 and 4% on 1/1/27
• Steps: Non-topped out workers will get steps as scheduled (yes, we have to bargain this) and a new (11th) top step on 2/1/27. Employees who have been with the state for 10 years and are topped out will receive their new step immediately on that date instead of on their Benefit Eligibility Date
• Health Insurance: Maintained access to affordable healthcare for the life of the contract; language that protects 1% premium share plans in the face of rising healthcare costs
• Differentials
  • Essential Worker Differential increased to $4/hour 
  • Study on Fire Incident Management Team
  • Process to bargain differential for ODHS investigation in residences

Safety and Workload 

• We fought back and won against management takeaways on the discrimination process
• Safety assessment for workers who are facing harm when filing discrimination and professionalism complaints 
• If requested, managers must meet with staff that make workload prioritization requests
• Increased access to critical incident leave for traumatic incidents on the job
• Creation of a committee that will determine best practices and make recommendations for a policy on Employee Resource Groups

21st Century Workplace 

• New remote work appeals process that allows workers to appeal remote work denials or recensions to a labor management committee
• Inclement weather leave expanded by 16 hours per biennium
• Non-essential workers get essential worker differentials when required to report in person during a closure
• Extended bargaining process to come to an agreement on an LOA on AI implementation to September 2025
• A committee to review the layoff language in the contract and recommend improvements

A Strong Union

• Extends 12 hours of paid leave – previously only available to stewards – to sublocal officers as well. 
• Increases size of Central Table team from 10 to 12 members
• Required notice to the union when management submits reclassification request

Payroll Transition 

• Transition to biweekly pay in July of 2027
• $1700 one-time payment in July of 2027, plus
• 40 hours of leave granted 90 days prior to payroll transition that can be cashed out for transition costs 
• A Joint Labor Management Advisory Committee will meet to discuss and make recommendations for the transition
• Commitments on:
  • No change in FTE status because of the transition
  • Management is responsible for approving timesheets and ensuring workers are paid, even when time is not submitted or approved on schedule.
• Improved training on Workday payroll for represented employees and required training for management on time approval.
• Beginning January 2026, overpayments can only be recouped going back 364 days. All overpayments qualify for a repayment plan regardless of how the overpayment was issued
• Rapid response process in place on payroll errors when transition occurs to ensure issues are handled immediately

…and much more!

What’s Next?

This agreement is tentative until members vote to ratify. Members will receive a full summary of the agreement when they vote. In the coming days, we’ll send:

•    Information on ratification meetings and Q&A sessions
•    Voting instructions and deadlines

Together, we made this happen. Let’s finish strong—review the TA, attend a session, and cast your vote!