Bargaining-Session Update: April 30

Our union spent the day working on counterproposals to unresolved contract language still on the table. Since we had notified OHSU that our team would be in caucus all day, the OHSU team did not join us at the Oregon AFSCME office today. Our bargaining team had a very productive caucus day and developed dozens of counterproposals to OHSU’s proposals, including language on hours of work, the preferential hire list, steward/officer hours, discipline, grievances, and drug/alcohol testing. (Some of our counters to other OHSU proposals may simply be to keep current contract language.)We expect that both teams will have a full slate of counterproposals to share when we meet again on May 7. Details about our union’s counterproposals will be included in next week’s bargaining update, after our proposed language been presented to OHSU. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts in the comments below and take a very important bargaining survey (see additional information at the bottom of this post).We also reviewed dozens of letters of agreement to determine whether we want these to roll over to the next contract. Going forward, our union intends to include these LOAs in the printed contract (and PDF) so that all contractual language can be found in one place. 

A number of our proposals are awaiting a response from OHSU, including:

    • Across-the-Board Wage Increases — offering a 5.0% increase the first year of the contract and a 4.0% raise the second

    • Lump Sum Payment — offering a $100 or 1% (whichever is greater) payment in November

    • Longevity Rate — restoring longevity status to some employees who lost it with the 2015 contract

    • Differentials — offering a number of new differentials: weekend, float, advanced certification and preceptor 

    • Free Bus Passes — offering free transit passes to AFSCME-represented employees upon request (for TriMet, C-TRAN and other transit systems)

    • Community Advisory Board — establishing a task force uniting faculty, students, nurses, all four unions and others to look at issues such as health-care costs, housing and transportation issues, clinic access and employment opportunities

    • Peer-to-Peer Group Counseling/Support — establishing a task force on implementing critical-incident debriefing training and group counseling in the wake of difficult/tragic events affecting a work unit

    • Staffing Task Force — establishing a task force to discuss concerns re: significant staffing issues

    • 403(b) Contribution Match — requiring OHSU to partially match voluntary contributions to a 403(b) retirement plan (similar to ONA’s contact)

    • Reimbursement of Certification Expenses — reimbursing employees for certification fees that meet eligibility requirements

    • PERS Pension Rates — requiring OHSU to contribute 2% of PERS participants’ earnings to a 403(b) retirement account if the legislature passes a requirement for participants to contribute to PERS

    • Tuition Discounts — allowing our union to negotiate parity with ONA’s tuition-discount language

    • Time Off Between Regularly Scheduled Shifts — compensating employees at time and a half for shifts worked after a shortened rest period

    • Posting & Awarding of Position — expanding job-bid language

    • Preferential Hire List Task Force — establishing a task force to ensure that the PHL placement process is easily understood by employees and managers

    • Co-Branding — requiring that initiatives/projects developed jointly between Local 328 and OHSU are co-branded

Upcoming Events & Activities

    • May 1 - mid-June — Bargaining Survey: Take this very important bargaining survey to give our union direction re: settling vs. striking. Since we start mediation on May 21, the sooner you take the survey the better. Details will be shared in a President’s Message email being sent later this week. 

    • May 8 — OHSU Employee Career Fair: Explore career paths and workplace opportunities at this event being held Wednesday, May 8, from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the BICC Gallery. Learn more here. 

    • May 22 — Bargaining Town Hall: Attend our next town hall on Wednesday, May 22, from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. in UHS 8B60. Hollie Hemenway, director of HR and Employee/Labor Relations and a member of OHSU’s bargaining team, will be in attendance.

    • June TBD (if needed) — Strike-Related Membership Meeting: If our survey indicates member support for a formal work stoppage, we will hold a special membership meeting in June, with a formal vote whether to authorize the bargaining team to call a strike.

    • OHSU is conducting a employee engagement survey through Tuesday, May 20. Share your experience on work environment, OHSU leadership, compensation and more here. 

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