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7/11

We have settled at the Human Services Coalition table! It was a tough bargaining session with a steady lack of engagement from the State up until our last two bargaining sessions. On 7/7 the Coalition had mediated bargaining, which helped us reach a settlement. We ran a solid campaign. Thousands of members engaged around workload and safety both in the legislature, via email, and during in-person actions. We won significant improvements to our priority proposal for Safety & Health, but our fight isn’t over! We will continue to fight for improved workloads and safety for the Human Service Coalition next year and beyond. See the full TA here. 

Your bargaining team kept pushing and pushing on Critical Incident leave and Remote work proposals until the end. The Agencies continually rejected our proposals. The Bargaining team decided to move these two issues to the Central Table to continue the fight. 

7/3

Human services is having a mediation session to settle all outstanding bargaining items on Monday, July 7th. This is a closed session, as mediation is only open to bargaining team members. 

6/27

On June 25th, 2025, the parties held their last scheduled bargaining session. After months of delay, the State finally started engaging in negotiations and we were able to TA several items:  

• A new LOA that provides access to Union members to sit on interview panels for bargaining-unit positions.  
• Article 40.1m Penalty Pay – new 4-hour benefit (2 hours for a virtual visit) at overtime rate for Child Welfare staff who are required to attend court on their day off.  
• An improved LOA on phone monitoring/recording that now includes OED members. 
• A new LOA that improves the shift bidding process for OED.  
• Significant improvements to the Temporary Lodging LOA (no TA yet) with added scheduling and contractor protections.  

On July 7th, we head into mediation with the Employment Relations Board (ERB). ERB requires that mediation sessions are closed to the public. We plan to bargain on priority issues, as summarized below. The State is taking hard positions against bargaining any economic improvements, stating that expected Federal budget cuts will severely impact the Oregon budget:  

• Safety (We’ve made progress on Emergency Building Plans).  
• Paid Critical Incident Leave (The State refuses to bargain on this item). 
• Remote Work (The State refuses to bargain on this item).   
• Workload (The State refuses to bargain on this item). 
• Boot Allowance for Oregon Resilience and Emergency Management (OREM) members. 
• FLSA exempt straight time accrual and payout improvements.  

6/13

This past week your Human Services Bargaining Team was able to bring home some victories for workplace democracy and recognition of special duties. We’ve reached tentative agreements on having union workers on interview panels when bargaining unit vacancies are being filled and a special pay differential for child welfare staff who must report to court hearings as part of their duties.

Unfortunately, many other critical issues are at a stalemate. After months of bargaining and countless hours spent in negotiations, the State has refused to give us a single proposal on workload, child welfare caseload ratios and paid critical incident leave. At the same time, they have rejected all union proposals on these issues outright. This is not a respectful way to bargain and a clear sign that we need to turn up the heat.

Our next bargaining session is on 6/25, and we want you to show up as an observer to show management how invested you are in resolving these issues. Keep an eye on your emails on that date to access the meeting link.

5/30

Thank you for the 50+ members who joined bargaining today to negotiate over health, safety and workload! 

Workload is a top bargaining priority.   

• The State did not respond to the Union’s legal request for copies of Workload Models and Remote Work guidelines. SEIU will pursue an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the State if management fails to respond.  

• The State reported that Child Welfare is 125% overstaffed. Meanwhile, among primary staff last month: 43% of CPS staff, 29% of permanency staff and 19% of certification staff had caseloads above caseload ratios! 

• We need to hear from Child Welfare staff who are assigned caseloads above approved ratios and the impacts that has on staff and clients! Submit your story here. https://forms.office.com/r/nXSP7EZzu4 

 On 5.28, SEIU bargained on the following items. The State did not respond to any proposals and did not show up with any counters: 

• Article 32.1 Overtime. Exempt status FLSA employees overtime cap increased to 240 hours. Passed originally by SEIU on 3.19.25  

• Article 86.1 Workload Prioritization (includes workload protections for all staff/puts CPS Caseload Ratios in the Contract). SEIU originally passed on 4.4.25, on 4.30 ER rejected the entire proposal. SEIU re-introduced on 5.28. 

• Article 138.1 Working Remotely. Proposed clear guidelines for approving/denying remote work. SEIU proposed on 3.19.25. State failed to respond.  

• Safety Package Proposal (A101, 103, 136). Includes mandatory safety plans at offices, paid critical incident leave, implementation of safety flags for difficult and sensitive clients. SEIU proposed on 3.5.25.  

• LOA on call metrics. Ensure all workers are not unfairly monitored on work phone calls.  

• LOA on Interview Rights. The right for SEIU members to sit on interview panels.  

5/16

Management canceled this week's meeting because the LRU representative is on vacation. The next meeting is scheduled for 5/28.

5/2

SEIU’s bargaining team is disappointed by the State’s failure to address the Union’s major bargaining proposals. Our next bargaining date is not for another month:  

Safety: The State rejected nearly all of the Union’s safety language, including paid critical incident leave, improved safety plans with a responsibility to notify employees and mandatory safety notices over Everbridge. The State was unable to answer basic safety questions including whose responsibility it is to write safety plans, where these plans live or how they are communicated to State workers. SEIU originally presented our safety proposals on March 5th and it appears that basic questions were left unanswered. Management’s response left us feeling that the State does not take safety seriously.  

Workload models: The State rejected our proposal for all workers to have workload models and for the State to follow the Child Welfare caseload ratios without discussion.  

Remote Work: The State rejected our remote work proposal in its entirety without discussion.  

Join us on May 14th for our safety pickets! Check your email for more information. The plan is to hold the Safety Breaks at lunchtime (ex: 1130am-130pm) and you can work with an organizer about planning for the mid-morning or mid-afternoon 15-minute break. With lunchtime pickets, folks can rotate on the line for alternating lunch schedules. For remote workers, attend a Safety Break that is closest to where you live to show your solidarity! Contact your organizer for a list of CATs at your worksite, to inform them about the picket, to bring signs/swag, and to help order lunch.

4/18

Last month, we passed proposals to improve safety, remote work, unreasonable workloads and overtime. In February, we filed a request for information on safety and workload.  

Two weeks ago, we scheduled a Union bargaining team work session to finalize our proposals. We expected management would use this time to review the Union’s safety, remote work and unreasonable workload proposals passed in March.  

This week, however, state management cancelled our bargaining session at the last minute, saying they needed more time to prepare.  

We meet next with management on April 30th and have only four bargaining sessions left to negotiate on critical issues raised by our members.  

To date, the Department of Administration Services’ labor relations management team has yet to respond to any of our Union’s proposals or information requests.

We are disappointed and frustrated by how slowly management is moving, particularly since they have not addressed our safety, remote work or workload proposals with the urgency they deserve.

To date, we have passed, at the coalition table, proposals on the following articles:  

• Article 10.1 Union Stewards
• Article 32.1 Overtime
• Article 40.1m Penalty Pay
• Article 45.1m filling of vacancies
• Article 45.1c filling vacancies
• Article 49.1 Trial Service
• Article 61.1 Leaves Without Pay
• Article 86.1 Workload Prioritization
• Article 90.1 Work Schedules
• Safety package Proposal (A101, 103, A136 relevant coalition subsections)
• 1 Working Remotely
• LOAs
  • Master LOA tracking list
  • Modification LOA 00.00-16-293 temp lodging
  • Modification LOA 35.1.23-469 Metrics
  • NEW LOA Telematics
  • NEW LOA 10.1c & 10.1m Interview Panels
  • NEW LOA Article 90.1c Employment

We invite you to join us as an observer to bargaining at our April 30th session. We will send out the participation link before the meeting.

4/4

NO ONE SHOULD FEEL UNSAFE AT WORK!

We have made proposals on Workload and Safety for ALL Workers in ALL ODHS/OHA/OED Programs to hold management accountable in creating safe workplaces and manageable workloads.

ODHS management states that Child Welfare is overstaffed by 125%. At the same time, safety incidents have increased dramatically coalition wide which coincides with significant increases in workload. Data has been provided by ODHS that Safety Incidents have risen 453% from 2019-2023. Of the data reported in 2023, over 78% of Safety Incidents reported were of a Medium to High Level of Severity.  

Highlights of our Safety Proposals:  

•     Paid Critical Incident Leave for violence and trauma experienced at work.
•     Supervisor and/or Expert led worksite safety plans and notify employees of safety incidents.
•     Mandatory supervisor support for staff involved in safety incidents.
•     Security guards at worksites with repeated safety incidents.
•     Standard protocols when there is a safety incident at worksites.

List of Articles proposed:

•     Article 49.1: Employees in the Human Services Coalition in a trial service for lateral transfer or promotion do not need management approval to return to a classification or comparable salary level, which the employee previously held unless charges are filed and they are discharged as provided in Article 20.
•     To create equity for workers wishing to return to their original position if/when desired from a lateral transfer or promotion.
•     Article 61.1: Being able to use Leave Without Pay without having to exhaust accrued leave. Listing instances to deny Leave Without Pay.
•     Article 40.1(M): Intent of the parties that there shall be no “make work” assigned to employees who are called back to work for court appearances.
•     Article 10.1: Improving language around using agency’s email system and including instant messaging system.
•     Article 45. 1M: Improve hardship transfer process and prioritize internal candidates over external for promotions and lateral transfers. We want employees to only work ONE job when they've been promoted, not the new one AND the old one.  
•     45.1C: Improving language to better define transfers and promotions. Prioritizing internal OED and ODHS/OHA candidates over external. Requiring management to provide a written explanation of a job denial. Increasing notification of program transfers from 5 to 30 days.
•     86.1M: Codifiying CW Workload models to hold management accountable and adding penalty pay for assigned work.  
•     86.1: New language improving workload prioritization to eliminate progressive discipline related to workload, caseload, or timely assignments.

LOAs (Letters of Agreement):

•     LOA 35.1 Recorded/Monitored Calls & Call Metrics: Intent is to not have calls and call metrics used as discipline but rather as training opportunities.
•     Temporary Lodging LOA: $5 differential, contracted staff will be the ones awake, and yearly de-escalation training and protocol review will be provided for staff. Anytime weapons, drugs, etc. are confiscated from TL, then those items will be removed within two hours of the discovery. Shifts lasting 10 or more hours will be compensated with 20-minute rest periods.

3/21

The Human Services Coalition bargaining team has reached its first tentative agreement for this round of bargaining. They won a major victory with new scheduling bidding rights for the Oregon Child Abuse Hotline, an issue that’s been outstanding since last summer!

The team also submitted proposals to management regarding Article 32 – Overtime and Article 138 - Working Remotely. 

•     The overtime proposal included increasing the compensatory/straight time limit from 160 to 240 hours and allowing it to be cashed out monthly.  
•     The remote work proposal pushes back against the State’s arbitrary use of ‘business needs’ to end remote work agreements and sets up a process that forces the employer to justify what these needs are. They also proposed that workers can have international remote work agreements

Management did not present any proposals and did not respond to the safety package that the union passed previously.

3/5

The Human Services Coalition bargained with management on Feb 20th and March 5th. Below is some of what happened at the last bargaining sessions:

On February 20th, we proposed rules to support Oregon Child Abuse Hotline employees to create a fair system for the selection of new shifts. This is a continuation of an Unfair Labor Practice/Demand to Bargain charge that we filed back in the summer of 2024.

On March 5th, we continued our discussions on shift bidding and tumbling for the Oregon Child Abuse Hotline and we proposed a Safety Package Proposal (3 articles – 101 Safety & Health, 103 Difficult and Sensitive Clients, Article 136 Critical Incident Leave). These proposals would make improvements to protect the safety and health of State Workers, including: 

• • Paid critical incident leave for violence and trauma experienced at work
  • Worksite safety plans and employee notification of safety incidents  
  • Mandatory supervisor support to staff involved in safety incidents.  
  • A boot allowance for Oregon Emergency Management facilities staff.  
  • Security guards at worksites with repeated safety incidents

We cannot win these things through negotiations alone. The best way to express our solidarity is through escalation starting with signing the bargaining petition and sharing your story:  

Safety in the Workplace - No One Should Feel Unsafe at Work

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7/3

You’ve probably already heard that the legislature failed to pass a transportation package to close ODOT’s budget gap. That means that the layoffs we were fighting to avoid are now coming. We’re working on passing an LOA (Letter of Agreement) to DAS to protect workers facing layoffs. We’ll keep you in the loop about this and provide tools to navigate layoffs at this website: https://seiu503.org/odot-layoff-information/ 

To help guide you through this process we are hosting an ODOT townhall where we will explain the contract language, take questions and give people an opportunity to connect and plan our next moves. We hope to see you there! 

Wednesday, July 9, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM 

Register for the virtual town hall here. 

In better news, ODOT Coalition bargaining was in session all day on July 1st, and we reached a tentative agreement with management just after 10pm. Your delegation fought long and hard for improvements to your contract on a variety of issues. We were able to secure the following, in addition to other victories reported earlier: 

• Union Rights (Article 10.3). Increased steward maximum from 1 to 2 (or 20%) of the work unit. Allowed for steward to travel on paid time to represent a worker in person if a manager, lead investigator or appointing authority are in person for the interview. 

• Vacation (Article 66.3). Increased week of choice from one per year to two per year for ODOT, DMV and OPRD.  

• Rest breaks at OPRD (Article 90.3B). Strengthened language so mgmt. has to have a valid business reason to determine when a rest period cannot be taken. 

• Special Provisions (Article 113.3). Added Agriculture and OPRD to this article to provide communication devices in field vehicles (previously OWRD/OWEB only). 

• Boots and safety clothing (Article 122.3). ODOT increased clothing allowance to $395 and prescription safety glasses to $200. Boots at OPRD no longer have a safety toe or felt bottom requirement. All permanent employees at OPRD that are required to wear boots shall be eligible for reimbursement for the purchase, repair or maintenance of boots up to $250 a biennium; OPRD seasonals will be eligible for $250 per biennium starting in their second season. Water folks secured a $200 reimbursement (OWRD) and a $200 allowance (OWEB) for items not already provided by the agency. Agriculture maintained current contract language while a grievance goes to arbitration later this year to address the agency’s failure to provide protective clothing and footwear.  

• Critical Incident Leave (Article 136). Created a new Letter of Agreement to explore the resources and current leave types that are available, or needed, for employees experiencing traumatic events in the workplace. 

Stay tuned for a complete summary of victories from the ODOT Coalition table. We now turn to Central Table to support their efforts to reach an agreement on economics for the entire state unit.  

A big shout out to the ODOT Coalition bargaining team that spent many hours discussing problems, reviewing contract language, proposing solutions, strategizing pathways, amending counter proposals, and supporting delegates from other agencies to navigate forward to an agreement. Please send a note of thanks to your co-workers: 

Dept of Agriculture: Tash Wilson, Michael Williams, Aisha Young 

DOGAMI: Vaughn Balzer 

Dept of Forestry: Michele Huffman, Megan Frizzell, David Showalter, Matthew Goolsby 

Dept of Fish and Wildlife: Angela Ward, Eric Ollerenshaw, Michelle Jones 

DMV: Michelle Godin, Dan Mears, Janel Borghero 

ODOT: Ritchie Maes, Greg Chasteen, Lee Erickson, Lon Stockebrand, Jason Lawrence, Phil Smith 

OPRD: Elika Paki, Sarah Heinsohn, Jennifer Burnett 

OWRD/OWEB: Austin Leep, Arla Davis 

6/27

The ODOT Coalition bargaining delegation met with management on June 17 when we reached a tentative agreement on a majority of our proposals, including:

• ODOT. Increased meal tickets and committed to simplifying the process of receiving them.
• ODF. Increased boot reimbursement from $300 to $400 for permanent folks, and $150 to $200 for seasonals.
• DOGAMI. Increased clothing allowance from $100 to $200.
• ODF+. Added a day of rest (8 hours) with straight time compensation for being on incident more than 21 days, and another day (8 hours) after 30 days. Clarified that all coalition agencies that have employees rostered on Incident Management Teams are eligible for Incident Management Rest.
• ODFW. Added Microbiologist 2 and 3, OS2, and AS2 to the list of classifications eligible for the $325 uniform reimbursement and updated the Learning and Development Specialist classifications. Increased reimbursements from three uniform shirts to four, and one pair of pants to two for seasonals and LDs.
• OPRD+ODF. Clarified that returning seasonals can finish trial service in other locations from their first season.
• DMV+ODOT+OPRD. New LOA to review and analyze hiring trends on an annual basis to ensure “fair consideration” is given to internal candidates. The review will be shared with LMCs at the end of each year.
• ODOT+ODF+OPRD. New LOA features safety process while working in illegal campsites.
• ODF. New LOA to study compensation for wildland firefighting classifications to inform wage increases in 2027.
• ODF. New LOA to annually debrief fire season and use of Incident Management Teams (IMT) at Labor Managment Committee; clarify methodology for documenting IMT qualifications and experience and create transparency for IMT selection process.
• OPRD+ODF. Strengthened LOA on gender discrimination and sexual harassment with a commitment to anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination policies, annual monitoring reports at LMC and a confidential reporting system.
• ODOT. New LOA to jointly explore Essential Worker Differential implementation.

Of the more than 30 proposals that we had on the table, eight (8) proposals remain open. We will tackle those remaining items at our next session on July 1, including:

• Boots and safety clothing for Agriculture, Water Resources/OWEB, OPRD and ODOT
• Work schedules and breaks at OPRD
• Critical Incident Leave
• Vacation choice frequency at ODOT, DMV and OPRD

Next Steps: Observe bargaining and support your delegation

Our next session with management is July 1, starting at 9am. We invite you to join and observe negotiations, show support, and help apply pressure as we push toward agreement. We have a special request for folks that are impacted by the remaining proposals on the table to attend. These include:

• Folks at Agriculture who are impacted by the agency’s lack of support for safety footwear.
• Seasonal folks at Parks that don’t/didn’t have appropriate footwear for their job duties.
• Folks at Parks that have been cheated out of taking rest periods.

You can join the session using this zoom link to observe negotiations on your breaks and lunch, or you can listen in the background if your job is such that you could have the radio on in the background. We will send a reminder and Zoom link on Monday, June 30.

6/13

The ODOT Coalition bargaining team met with management on June 10th and had a productive meeting with both sides passing packages. We passed three packages on a variety of issues including:

• Boots and safety clothing for ODOT and OPRD
• Increasing meal tickets and access at ODOT
• Overtime and on-call based on seniority at ODOT
• Boots and incident management rest at Forestry to break up long stints of working the fire line without a day off
• Fair consideration for internal candidates at DMV, OPRD and ODOT
• Protecting work schedule consistency at OPRD
• Improving conditions during trial service for returning seasonals at OPRD and Forestry
• Safety while working in illegal campsites

Members leaders, including someone from ODOT District 14, gave excellent presentations on these issues. They spoke about their importance and why they are a priority. Management passed back several proposals without making additional movement, instead reverting to their earlier positions. We still have not reached any tentative agreements with management on the 30 proposals that we have on the table, so we have scheduled an additional bargaining session for June 13^th, ahead of our June 17th session.

5/30

The ODOT Coalition bargaining delegation met with management on May 27th when both sides passed packages with various proposals. We passed a package on issues impacting workers at the Department of Agriculture, Water Resources, and OWEB, including:  

• Boots and safety clothing for people that work in the field at Water Resources.  

• Boots and safety clothing for people that work in the field at Agriculture.  

• A career ladder for Office Specialists and Administrative Specialists to gain experience and create mobility in the Natural Resource Specialist series.  
  

Union members from the Department of Agriculture presented on issues impacting them and made compelling arguments for the Employer to provide safety clothing and internal mobility for workers.   

Our team continues to work through additional issues including:  

• Improving language to provide more transparency and fairness in hiring and promotions.    

• Expanding use of critical incident leave.  

• Creating safeguards for work in illegal campsites.  
  

We have 30 proposals that remain on the table with two more sessions scheduled for next month. Our next session with management is June 10.   

5/16

The ODOT Coalition bargaining delegation met with management on May 14 when we passed counter proposals on four packages, including: 

• Removing CDL burden from low wage classifications at ODFW. 
• Securing bargaining unit representation on hiring panels at OPRD. 
• Improving conditions for firefighters and Incident Management Teams at Forestry. 
• Improving safety clothing allowances at all agencies within the coalition. 
• Increasing seniority rights at ODOT. 
• Increasing meal tickets and access at ODOT.

Our team continues to work through additional issues including:

• Improving language to provide for more transparency and fairness in hiring and promotions. 
• Expanding use of critical incident leave. 
• Expanding vacation week of choice from one week per year to two weeks. 
• Securing safety clothing and boot allowances at Agriculture, as well as creating career ladder opportunities within the agency.

Our next session with management is May 27.

5/2

The ODOT Coalition bargaining delegation met with management on April 30th and we received five packages of counter proposals. The packages bundle together their responses to the proposals we have passed to mgmt. since February. So far they are a mixed bag.  

Our team is now working through those proposals and will offer additional counters at our next session on May 13th. We have not yet reached a tentative agreement on any of the 30 proposals we have on the table, and our team continues to work through a variety of issues, including:  

• Safety: Expanding use of critical incident leave, and increases to safety gear 

• Vacation use: Expanding week of choice from one week per year to two 

• ODFW: Reducing CDL requirements for low wage workers 

• OPRD: Inclusion of represented workers on hiring panels 

• Agriculture: Creating a career ladder into the Natural Resource Specialist series 

• ODOT: strengthening seniority rights for on-call and overtime 

• ODF: Compensation and classification studies for Incident Management Teams and firefighting positions 

4/18

The ODOT Coalition met with management on April 15 for our first session after the deadline passed for initial proposals. We now have a full lay of the land with 30 proposals on the table that we will negotiate in the weeks ahead to address a variety of issues including safety, vacation use, internal hiring, on-call and OT at ODOT, classification studies at ODF, improvements for low wage workers and critical incident leave. Mgmt. sent us counters on:  

• Steward numbers at ODOT, DMV, OPRD, ODFW and ODF (Article 10.3)
• Filling of Vacancies and internal mobility (Article 45.3AB)  
• Use of vacation leave at ODOT, DMV and OPRD and cancellation of vacation throughout the coalition (Article 66.3)  
• Work schedules at OPRD (Article 90.3B)  
• Special Provisions for safety (Article 113.3H,I) 

It was notable that the Department of Agriculture continues to deny proposals that would provide safety measures for employees working in the field. The most recent example being their denial of our proposal to require two-way communication devices in vehicles when Agriculture employees are performing job duties in remote areas of the state. We will continue to advocate at the table for such safety measures for Ag workers.   

Another notable moment was mgmt.’s response to our proposal to better define what “fair consideration” means in the hiring process of existing employees who are seeking opportunities within the agency. Mgmt. indicated that fairness would be too administratively burdensome.   

Stay tuned for upcoming invitations to join bargaining as an observer via Zoom to show your support for the bargaining team.

4/4

Union bargaining team passes proposals to improve working conditions ahead of deadline

Your ODOT coalition bargaining team passed an additional 13 proposals, ahead of an April 4th deadline, addressing a variety of issues important to workers. A major theme of what your team is proposing is to put some teeth behind seniority language and to make sure it counts when considering who will be hired into new positions and who gets overtime. As the front line of your agencies your experience is extremely valuable and it’s time that management respects it. Putting in years of hard work needs to count for something. Here are the details:

1.     Amending overtime for ODOT to include seniority.
2.     Increasing meal tickets at ODOT.
3.     Improving transfer and promotion opportunities for internal candidates at DMV, ODOT and OPRD.
4.     Improving access to earned vacation hours for DMV, ODOT and OPRD.
5.     Ensuring communication devices are in field vehicles at Agriculture and OPRD.
6.     Creating a career ladder for OS (office specialist) and AS (administrative specialist) folks to move into the NRS (natural resource specialist) series at Agriculture (New Letter of Agreement).
7.     Creating light duty opportunities for folks at OPRD that sustain injuries (New Letter of Agreement).
8.     Increasing Union involvement in hiring panels and LMC at OPRD (New Letters of Agreement)
9.     Addressing sexual harassment and gender discrimination at ODF and OPRD (Letter of Agreement).
10.     Implementing safety measures for employees that are tasked to work around illegal campsites, including exposure to fentanyl, feces and bodily fluids (New Letter of Agreement).
11.     Creating a work group and class and comp study for all Incident Management Team positions and duties at ODF (New Letter of Agreement).
12.     Directing a class and comp study for wildland firefighting positions.

Management did not pass any more new proposals. Our team now shifts to develop counter proposals ahead of our next meeting with management on April 15th. Stay tuned and keep staying active!

3/21

On March 18th, the ODOT Coalition delegation met for the third session with management and passed three more initial proposals:  

•     A new article for ODOT that would clarify on-call assignments and use of vehicles during on-call.  
•     A new article to clarify that employees at ODFW and OPRD cannot be required to use their personal vehicle to conduct work.    
•     Amended the Union Rights article to improve steward representation at OPRD, DMV, ODF, ODFW and ODOT.  

Management passed two more initial proposals: 

•     Changes to Article 45.3G that would impact how vacancies are filled, and how promotions and non-voluntary transfers are handled at the Department of Agriculture.  
•     A new ODOT-only article specifying when the Essential Worker Differential applies to maintenance crews.   

Our team continues to work on initial proposals to pass before the April deadline. Stay tuned for opportunities in April and May to observe coalition bargaining via Zoom.   

3/5

The ODOT Coalition bargaining team met with management last week and passed four more proposals to management around issues related to safety and workload. Specifically, we proposed: 

• •     New language on critical incident leave to support workers that experience direct trauma at work, including verbal threats and witnessing fatalities.  
  •     Expanding rest and recovery at Oregon Department of Forestry to meet industry standard after 21-day assignments on all-hazard incident management teams.  
  •     Improving work schedules for Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.  
  •     Improving CDL requirements for the lowest paid workers at Oregon Department of Fish Wildlife.

Management passed two proposals regarding returning seasonals at both Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and Oregon Department of Forestry. At both agencies, if a worker ends their first season and then accepts a position in the same classification at a different location, it is considered a lateral transfer if the employee completes their season and indicates an intention to return, and they will continue with the same trial service.

Management also passed their positions on existing Letters of Agreement. There was significant agreement in this area, with a few exceptions, including management’s position that the Oregon Department of Forestry will continue its commitment to confronting sexual harassment and discrimination at the agency via Labor Management Committees (LMC), but that the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department would like to end their commitment to discuss the problem with Union leaders at LMC. 

2/21

This week marked our first coalition bargaining meetings with management. The State of Oregon workforce is divided up into four coalitions: Human Services, Institutions, ODOT and Special Agencies. We also negotiate at Central Table, where language that impacts everyone (including pay increases) is bargained. We will hold our first meeting at Central Table on Thursday, February 27th at 1:30pm.  

At the ODOT coalition our team shared their framework for bargaining with management in this opening statement, highlighting that workers in the ODOT Coalition keep our roads safe, fight fires, care for our parks, and manage vital resources like fish, wildlife, minerals, agriculture and water.  

We passed a proposal for seven agencies (ODOT, OPRD, ODF, ODFW, DOGAMI, Ag, and Water) to improve language in Article 122.3, which deals with boots, protective clothing and uniforms. Management passed a proposal to clarify who gets meal allowances in Article 33.3A. 

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7/11

The Specials Coalition reached a TA with management this week! Below are some of the wins we had in this round of bargaining: 

• Stronger language around the filling of vacancies for DCBS and Workers’ Comp, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and the Licensing Boards. We were also able to fight back takeaways on this language from OHCS and Education.  

• A process to ensure that there is a union member on interview panels for bargaining unit positions in every Specials Coalition agency.  

• A process to raise safety concerns about the public spaces of buildings and language about how those concerns can be addressed.  

• Language that makes labor management committees more accessible for some of our smallest agencies – the licensing boards.  

• Additional stewards for BOLI.  

• Stronger language for determining if workers need protective clothing.   

We also had a very frustrating conversation with management’s team about a proposal we made about the pay rates for the workers that coach students at the School for the Deaf. Management gave us their proposal late and then didn’t have the resources they needed to bargain over it seriously on Tuesday.  We agreed to continue our conversations about that proposal through our central table team.  Look for updates on this discussion next week. 

7/3

Your Specials Coalition bargaining team bargained for ten hours this past week to try to reach a settlement. Not only did we not come to a settlement, but management has yet to pass us an initial counter to a proposal that we gave them months ago.

They did give us a response to our Working Remotely proposal, which was a no. We continue to bargain over remote work at the central table and will discuss a counter proposal at the coalition table during our next meeting.

We passed multiple packages to management on issues at individual agencies and are preparing to pass proposals on how members can transfer and promote at our next meeting.

We were able to TA on one proposal, which makes labor management committees more accessible for our licensing boards.

6/27

This week management showed up to the bargaining table with responses to our proposals that were mostly “no.”  Every single one of the proposals that we put across the table to address safety for employees received a “no.”  We believe that when working in offices that are open to the public, employees should feel safe; when working out in the field with the public, employees should feel safe.  And, if they don’t, they should know what the path is to get support from their agency.

In addition to all of the no's we received, management showed up to our second to last scheduled bargaining session without responses to all our proposals.  There are proposals that we gave them in February and March that they still haven’t responded to and we will not receive their initial response until our JULY meeting.

We will be showing up to our next bargaining session prepared to push management for responses and to hold firm on the things that are important for members of the Specials coalition.

6/13

This week was our second to last scheduled bargaining session. Coming into this session, management still owed us initial counters on 8 of our proposals. These counters were nowhere to be found. Our team expressed frustration about the lack of response to those proposals and said that we were not willing to both receive and settle proposals in our last bargaining session, we need more time to deliberate on them.  Management heard our concerns and committed to having responses to all the proposals in our next bargaining session. In turn we scheduled one more additional full day session.

Our team passed management back responses on several of the different Article 45 proposals we have on the table, once again emphasizing our insistence on transferring and promoting people from within the agency whenever possible. 

5/30

We came to work this week and are still waiting for management to pass counters on several of our proposals. We continue to work on proposals to get union members into interview spaces (New Letter of Agreement for Article 10) and protect workers from schedule modification without clear rules (Article 90.5). Management is taking aim at multiple agencies' language that protects represented workers when they apply for internal positions by proposing to blend this agency-specific language into one general article (Article 45.5).  
 
We still feel as if we have a long way to go and very few bargaining sessions left. Keep talking to your co-workers about bargaining and showing up to participate in your sub-locals' meetings and join the June 5th Rally - the only way for us to win this contract is together! 

5/16

This week management passed us 2 counter proposals. One of those counters was on a proposal we had passed that would make Labor Management Committees more accessible to smaller agencies within the coalition. Their second counter was on our work schedules proposal.

We passed a package with counters on managements proposals for ODE/DELC, and PERS and we continued our conversations about the safety proposals. Management continues to make little movement at the table and it is clear that their priorities do not include ensuring worker safety for those who are working in the field or engaging with members of the public. 

5/2

This week, management’s team gave us four different counter proposals – they still owe us sixteen more, so there is a lot of work to be done! 

One of their counters was on a proposal we made that would allow there to be a bargaining unit member, appointed by the union, on all hiring panels.  We think that having a bargaining unit member on every interview panel not only creates transparency within the hiring process but also creates opportunities for people to gain a better understanding of what is being looked for in the interview process.  In addition, it makes sense that people who are currently performing the work participate in choosing who might make a good co-worker.  The counter proposal from management shows that they do not share these values. 

Once again, in their counters to some of our proposals on Article 45 – Filling of Vacancies, the management team showed that their priorities are about the speed of the hiring process and not about how they can support current workers and their career development. 

Finally, we were able to make a little progress on a proposal that we made for the Licensing Boards in getting Labor Management Committees to be something that would work in their Agencies despite the small numbers of employees at some of them. 

4/18

We were able to reach agreement with management on five different proposals this past Tuesday. The agreements included:

• Additional stewards for BOLI
• Language at DCBS to strengthen a worker’s ability to transfer/promotion
• Increasing the number of comp time hours that workers at the licensing boards can accrue

We also spent time asking management clarifying questions around proposals that they gave us that would impact worker safety and accessibility in the workplace. While they were able to answer some of the questions, we are waiting for follow-up from them. We will be tackling these issues again in our next bargaining session.  

4/4

On Tuesday, your Specials Coalition bargaining team and management both exchanged their final initial proposals.

• Our union team passed many proposals including ones that would create a standard practice at each agency for how leadwork assignments are being shared with workers and how they are being filled. We passed several proposals for different agencies focusing on how to make internal job opportunities – both transfers and promotions – available to current employees first.
• Management’s team passed very few proposals, but the ones that they did pass focused on speeding up the hiring process and rolling back gains that had been made in previous contracts.

Stay tuned for more updates in a couple of weeks.

3/21

At the Specials Coalition Bargaining table we passed a package of three proposals that all focus on safety. Two of the proposals are seeking to expand Letters of Agreement to the whole coalition that have been working successfully for a single agency. One outlines what happens when elevators are inoperable, and another creates a structure for workers to follow if they work in the public and have concerns about their safety. The third letter of agreement would require that all buildings that are open to the public undergo a safety assessment.

We also passed our remote work proposal seeking to both create clarity around what a “business need” actually is and to protect people from being hired into remote work position just to have that changed later on.

Management has not given us many proposals yet but will get us the majority of them in the next session.

We also already signed our first tentative agreement on a few pieces of housekeeping (correcting typos) in an Article!

3/5

The Specials Coalition bargaining team has been hard at work advocating for your needs, below is an update from our bargaining session.

• • •     We passed two proposals that focus on bringing equity to our smallest agencies in the coalition, the Boards. We passed one proposal focusing on bringing their comp time accruals up to where others are and another proposal to make labor management committees more accessible.
    •     We passed the first of our Article 45 (Filling of Vacancies) proposals and so did management. Article 45 is always a conversation at this bargaining table as we try to ensure that workers can build careers at the State.
    •     We also spent some time talking with management about a proposal that we previously passed which would give the union representation on hiring committees, which would create a more transparent hiring process and help people understand the skills needed to interview well. 

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6/27

We’re excited to announce that on Tuesday, June 24th, your SEIU 503 Institutions Coalition Bargaining Team reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with management on the Institutions Coalition Table!

This agreement reflects the collective strength and solidarity of workers across Oregon State Hospital, Oregon Youth Authority, and Pendleton Cottage. Throughout this process, our priorities remained clear: safety, workload relief, fair compensation, and recognition for the difficult work you do every day. This Tentative Agreement is a significant step forward in addressing those needs.

Click here to view all the changes that were made at the Institutions Coalition Table.

What’s Next?

Each agency will now continue bargaining over their agency-specific proposals. The Coalition TA locks in improvements at the coalition level, while we stay at the table to fight for additional wins on economic issues.

Stay tuned for more updates as we push to wrap up agency-level bargaining. When all tables conclude, we’ll share the full Tentative Agreements and details about the ratification vote.

6/20

• CNI Differential:
  Management stated that they have no interest in continuing the CNI LOA without adding “parameters” (restrictions) to prevent workers from calling out frequently and then picking up CNI shifts.
  We pushed back, arguing that adding limitations without increasing the differential punishes staff. Management responded that they’re only willing to increase the CNI differential for LPNs, citing those shifts as the most critical. They also claimed that there are no funds to increase the CNI for MHT staff, nor will they continue the LOA for MHTs without those added restrictions. 
  This unequal treatment—valuing LPNs over MHTs—left our team deeply unsettled.
• PICU Differential:
  Management proposed a $1.60/hr differential for MHTs and $2.00/hr for LPNs. We stressed that this new unit brings heightened safety risks and increased complexity. These proposed amounts fall short of what’s needed to attract and retain skilled staff. Management claimed this is the maximum they can budget for and believe it will attract more experienced workers, though we made clear this is insufficient.

• Moving Campus Operations out of the normal GLC2 bidding process. Instead, GLC2s would have to apply for these positions.
  Their reasoning? They want more experienced staff in Campus Ops. What they aren’t offering: any incentive to actually encourage more tenured workers to apply.

6/13

Your Union bargaining team met with management on Friday, June 6th, and we’re happy to report a productive session with agreements reached on several key articles across agencies. Here are the highlights:

Oregon State Hospital (OSH) & Pendleton Cottage (PC)

• Promotions: When a member is denied a promotion, they can now request the interview notes and scoring. HR will also offer coaching and advice to help members strengthen their interview skills.
• Vacation Seniority Rights: Members will now be able to exercise seniority once per year when there’s a conflict over vacation requests.
• Clothing & Uniform Reimbursements:
  • Facilities Workers: $200 boot reimbursement per biennium
  • Vocational Services, Environmental Services, Materials Management: $150 clothing reimbursement per biennium
  • All: $75 per biennium for protective eyewear
• Continuing Education: Clarified the $1,000 reimbursement for Behavioral Health Specialists, Clinical Psychologists, and Psychiatric Social Workers.
• Labor/Management Engagement: Policies and procedures will now be reviewed and discussed during Labor/Management meetings.

Oregon State Hospital (OSH) Only

• Computer Access Time: Management has committed to ensuring employees have adequate time to access computers, even if it exceeds the current 15-minute limit when necessary.

Pendleton Cottage (PC) Only

• Licensure Costs Covered: The agency will now cover licensure and recertification costs for MHT employees required to maintain QMHA certification.

Oregon Youth Authority (OYA)

• Promotion: Same improvements as OSH/PC—interview notes and scoring available upon request, plus advice and coaching from HR.
• Vacation Bidding: Clear and concise language now reflects the current practice for vacation bidding.
• Hardship Transfers: We’ve added contract language that reflects the current hardship transfer policy to provide clarity and enforceability.
• Continuing Education: Same clarification on $1,000 reimbursement for qualifying classifications as OSH/PC.
• Labor/Management Engagement: Policies and procedures will now be reviewed and discussed during Labor/Management meetings. Employees whose regular schedules conflict with committee meetings may request to temporarily modify their work schedule pursuant to Article 90--18 - Work Schedules.

We’re back at the table Tuesday, June 17th, continuing to work through important proposals—including our proposed differentials to address the unique hazards and challenges faced by our members.

5/30

The Institutions Coalition did not bargain this week due to some team members being unavailable.

5/16

On Tuesday, May 13, your bargaining team met with management to continue negotiations. We passed several proposals back and forth and are pleased to report that we’re making progress on many issues. However, there are still key areas where we remain far apart. Here's a breakdown of where things currently stand by agency:

Across All Agencies (OSH, OYA, PC)

• Labor-Management Committees (LMC):  Management agreed that agency policies and procedures will be vetted through LMC. Members who sit on the committee will be able to flex their schedules if a meeting falls on their day off.
• Promotion Feedback: Management agreed to provide interview notes and scoring upon request when a member is denied a promotion. Additionally, HR will offer coaching and interview advice.
• Differentials: Management rejected the differential proposals for Food & Nutrition Services (FNS) workers who supervise patients or youth.

Oregon Youth Authority (OYA)

• Vacation Bidding:  Management accepted our vacation bidding language, which was developed collaboratively through LMC.
• Promotions: We continue to push for stronger promotion language at OYA to prioritize internal candidates.
• Critical Need Incentive (CNI): Management has proposed to eliminate the CNI at OYA entirely, effective July 1. We are pushing back on this and remain in active negotiations.
• Hazardous Workplace Differential: Management rejected our proposal to provide a differential for those working in specialized management units.

Oregon State Hospital (OSH)

• Boots/Uniforms: Management agreed to include Vocational Services workers assigned to the woodshop, greenhouse, and landscaping crews to the boots/uniforms language. They also agreed to increase the boots reimbursement for Facilities to $200 per biennium and for EVS, Voc Services, Materials Management, to be increased to $150 per biennium. Additionally, they agreed to increase the protective eyewear reimbursement by $25.
• Remote Work for 12-Hour Staff:  Our proposal to allow 12-hour shift workers to complete 4 hours of their shift remotely was rejected. Discussions are ongoing.
• CNI Proposal: Management wants to require zero unscheduled absences in the 14 days prior to receiving a CNI. We continue to push back on this restriction.
• Differentials: Our proposals for clerical staff working within the secure perimeter and Activity Coordinators performing Peer Support duties were also rejected. We are still in discussions on these as well as the differential for the PICU.

Pendleton Cottage (PC)

• Licensure & Recertification Fees: Management agreed to cover QMHA licensure and recertification fees to MHTs required to hold this certification.
• Custodian Differential: Custodians will now be added to the differential language of 10% for parity with OSH.

5/2

Your bargaining team met with management on April 29 and responded to their 4/18 package with one of our own. Here's what this package proposal included organized by agency: 

All Agencies 

• Investigatory notices from HR should include the reason, date, time, and location of the event being investigated. 

• Labor-Management Committees should regularly review policies and procedures to identify problems early. 

• Employees who are passed over for promotion should be able to request their interview notes and scoring. 

• We’re continuing to push for stronger oversight of investigations and discipline to track patterns and ensure fairness. 

 Oregon State Hospital (OSH) and Pendleton Cottage 

• We agreed to the $10.00 meal penalty payment but continue to push for real meals from Kirkbride and Valley Cafes instead of freezer-burnt TV dinners, we also shared photos of the TV dinner freezer-burnt meals and the unsafe food storage (freezer being held shut with a lanyard) to back this up. 

• We countered that if an employee is mandated, they should receive an email confirmation and the penalty payment form. 

• We’re also continuing to push for dieticians to be included in the Continuing Education reimbursement LOA. 

• We did get agreement that during vacation scheduling seniority can be utilized once per year instead of once every two years.
  

Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) 

• We proposed that internal candidates be considered before external applicants for promotions. 

Management gave us another package proposal, but they rejected all of the differentials we have proposed. They did counter with a $25 increase to protective eyewear but rejected any increases to boots/uniforms. Their package included agreement to cover QMHA recertification costs at Pendleton Cottage and added language at OYA to limit emergency reassignments across classifications. They refused to increase the 15-minute computer access time, but added language for OSH only that would ensure enough time is scheduled for required trainings and reviews in Workday. 

4/18

The coalition bargaining team met with management on April 15, 2025. At this session, management passed a package proposal responding to several of our proposals.

Management's counter proposals are as follows:

• Promotional language at OYA - Management agreed to adding promotional language for OYA. While management did reject our proposal to require internal consideration before external posting, management proposed that all postings be open, competitive and current employees who meet the minimum qualifications will be guaranteed an interview and full consideration.
• For all agencies within the Institutions coalition - Management agreed to provide interview notes and scoring to employees who are not selected for promotion. HR will make interview coaching and advice available upon request, though they rejected our proposal for structured career advancement training.
• Vacation Scheduling at OSH and Pendleton Cottage - We proposed allowing employees to exercise vacation scheduling seniority three times every two calendar years (an increase from once every two years). Management countered with allowing it once per calendar year.
• Labor Management Committee Participation - Management agreed that LMC members may request to temporarily modify their schedule when an LMC meeting falls on their day off.
• Mandate and Meal Penalties - Management rejected our proposal to increase penalty pay for mandates but countered with an increase to meal penalty payments. They also rejected our proposal to provide meals from on-site cafés during extended shifts.

We tentatively agreed to a proposal for OSH and Pendleton Cottage which provides that effective November 1st of each year, any compensatory time exceeding 60 hours will be automatically cashed out. This eliminates the need for employees to request to carry over the allowed 60 hours into the next year. However, if an employee wishes to cash out any portion of the 60-hour balance, they can initiate that request.

We continue to push for improvements that recognize the value of your work and time. The next session is scheduled for April 29th, and we’ll keep you informed every step of the way.

4/4

We met with management on Tuesday, April 1st for bargaining. This was the final meeting to introduce new proposals, and we passed a total of 13 proposals.

Our first applies to all workers across the coalition and recognizes the critical role they play, especially when required to report in person while others work remotely. In these situations, we propose employees receive time-and-a-half for all hours worked, in exchange for waiving the current $3.00/hour essential worker differential.

At Oregon State Hospital, we proposed several improvements. Employees under investigation could choose to receive questions in writing and submit written responses in advance, giving the employer flexibility to continue the process or accept the written statement as final. We also proposed extending computer access time from 15 to 30 minutes. Additional proposals include a 5% differential for Office Specialist 2s with regular client contact, and a 10% differential for Food Service Workers and Cooks supervising clients. We also called for increased allowances for protective eyewear and boots, and expanding boot coverage to Vocational Services. A differential was also proposed for Activity Coordinators who hold Peer Support Specialist or Traditional Health Worker certifications, recognizing their added responsibilities.

For Pendleton Cottage, we proposed a 5% differential for Mental Health Therapists required to maintain QMHA certification, along with reimbursement for recertification and continuing education costs.

At Oregon Youth Authority, proposals include ensuring staff are not reassigned outside their classification and that mandatory overtime stays within classification—while still allowing voluntary cross-classification overtime. We also proposed increases to penalty pay and meal reimbursements to reflect inflation, a compensatory time cap increase from 80 to 200 hours (matching OSH), and a 10% differential for employees working in Specialized Management Units. Lastly, we proposed clear timelines and collaborative procedures for vacation bidding and request approvals.

Management proposed 12 hour shifts at OSH, a very small differential for those assigned to the PICU, eliminating the OYA Critical Need Incentive and added an expectation for the OSH Critical Needs Incentive that employees must have worked all of their regularly scheduled hours (except for prescheduled paid time off or approved bereavement leave) in the 14 days prior to working a CNI shift to be eligible.

3/21

The institutions coalition bargaining team did not meet with management this past week. Both teams spent time preparing to pass proposals, so they are ready for the last bargaining session before the deadline, which is on April 1. 

3/4

During this session, we put forward proposals aimed at improving working conditions, financial fairness, and career advancement opportunities for our members.

Here’s what we proposed:

• • Article 32.2 to increase the penalty pay, and penalty meal reimbursement as well as clarified that provided meals would come from the institution’s cafe.
  • We passed proposals on Article 45.2 to create language that when denied a promotion, the notes and scoring of the interview will be provided upon request, and that HR will provide advice and coaching on interview skills and other appropriate trainings to improve the member's ability to promote in all facilities or institutions, as well as adding hardship transfer committee language for the Oregon Youth Authority.

2/21

This week marked our first coalition bargaining meetings with management. The State of Oregon workforce is divided up into four coalitions: Human Services, Institutions, ODOT and Special Agencies. We also negotiate at Central Table, where language that impacts everyone (including pay increases) is bargained. We will hold our first meeting at Central Table on Thursday, February 27th at 1:30pm.  

At the Institutions table we made an opening statement highlighting the challenges workers face every day working in this coalition. We passed proposals around more transparency to increase notification around policy changes, investigations and discipline. We also made a proposal to increase how often seniority could be used in a year at OSH and Pendleton Cottage.  

Management proposed that comp time exceeding 60 hours will be automatically cashed out during the annual period, eliminating the requirement to provide hard copies of disciplines, and GLCs at OYA having the ability to bid on shift assignments immediately upon hire vs. waiting to pass trial service.