2022 Bargaining Team Holds First Meeting
On Friday, Oct. 8, Local 328’s 2022 bargaining team met (virtually) for the first time. Although formal negotiations with OHSU won’t begin for almost five months, our union’s team will be busy with preparations and training over the coming months.
During introductions, team members discussed their roles at OHSU and their bargaining experience. Our team has a good mix of members who work in health care and research — some providing direct patient care, others supporting OHSU’s missions while teleworking. Both full-time and part-time workers are represented, as are hourly and salaried members and regular and flex employees.
Members of our 2022 team also have a great mix of bargaining experience. We have a couple of veterans who’ve negotiated four or five contracts and bring knowledge and familiarity with OHSU to the table; we have a number of members who are new to bargaining and will bring new ideas to the table. We’re also pleased that this team includes seven members of our 2019 bargaining team, who led a historic bargaining campaign and helped Local 328 win its best contract in recent memory.
After introductions, the team took turns sharing their favorite memories from the 2019 bargaining campaign. A common theme was how much it meant to the team to see the members of our bargaining unit get more involved and energized over the course of negotiations. Whether it was at our rally or the day we “greened out” a meeting of the OHSU board of directors, showing up at the union office the morning of a mediation session or marching in our union’s first-ever informational picket, this strong member support helped motivate our bargaining team and was invaluable in moving OHSU toward a better contract. In addition, the social-media trolling scandal and its aftermath were mentioned a number of times, as was the elation felt upon finally reaching a tentative agreement after more than 21 straight hours of mediation.
The team also discussed practical matters such as the composition of the bargaining leadership team, timekeeping, the monthly training sessions leading up to the start of negotiations and the logistics of negotiating during a pandemic.
Since the last contract, the world has changed in ways we couldn’t have imagined, and we’ve all faced a variety of challenges at the workplace. Our union will need to negotiate with OHSU and engage our members in innovative ways. We’ll likely need to bargain for new contract language arising from needs brought to light by the pandemic, but we’ll still maintain our focus on bargaining for fair wage increases, good benefits and no take-backs.
We’ll send periodic updates over the coming months and will resume our regular weekly updates once bargaining begins, and we’ll share information on how you can get involved. Our union’s bargaining team is so excited to start negotiating our new contract, and we hope you are too!