Another Arbitration, Another Big Win for Our Union
OHSU violated our contract by denying weekend differential and preceptor pay to salaried employees.
Salaried employees will be eligible for both moving forward and receive back pay
Total union victory in arbitration, OHSU to incur cost of arbitration and back pay to members
On August 13 of 2019, our union and OHSU management signed a tentative agreement to settle the most intense contract negotiations in twenty-five years. As part of that settlement our union and management agreed that salaried employees would be eligible for weekend differential and preceptor pay. Both parties ratified the agreement and it went into effect on September 30. However before ratification, OHSU was already attempting to alter the terms of the deal.
In mid-September, an “unnamed manager” contended that the union had misunderstood the terms of the deal and that salaried employees were not eligible for the weekend differential. This led to further negotiations on an LOA but later resulted in one of the two grievances that went to arbitration. Subsequently, OHSU attempted to redefine the terms of the negotiated preceptor pay, saying it did not agree that salaried employees would be eligible. This led to the second grievance.
On March 26, 2021 our union presented arguments and provided evidence in arbitration on both grievances. Ten weeks later, on June 11, arbitrator Sylvia P. Skratek delivered her ruling stating:
An objective, reasonable bystander observing the parties could only conclude that a binding contract was formed containing the essential terms. After considering all of the evidence and testimony in this matter and after reviewing everything that transpired between the parties there is no doubt that the parties entered into an agreement that did not exclude salaried employees from the ability to receive a weekend differential and preceptor pay. OHSU’s belated understanding of the tentative agreement is not a sufficient basis for denying the existence of the agreement.
The eighteen page ruling is a resounding and total victory for our union with the arbitrator awarding the following:
OHSU violated Article 10.11 of the collective bargaining agreement by refusing to provide weekend differential pay to salaried employees;
OHSU violated the MOU on Preceptor Pay by refusing to provide preceptor pay to salaried employees;
OHSU is ordered to strike the improper language from Appendix A, Section 1 that excludes salaried employees from eligibility to receive weekend differential pay under Article 10.11;
OHSU shall make all salaried employees whole for OHSU’s refusal to provide them with weekend differential and preceptor pay;
OHSU as the losing party shall pay the Arbitrator’s fees in accordance with Article 24.2.5 of the Agreement.
This means that moving forward salaried employees will be eligible for both preceptor pay and weekend differentials. Additionally, employees who have worked shifts that should have included those benefits will be paid for work previously done. Our union will be engaging with the employer to ensure the arbitrator’s award is properly implemented.
While the victory in this case is the main attraction it is important to look at some of the factors that weighed into the decision. OHSU’s core argument is that despite the parties' verbal and written agreements providing evidence to the contrary, they did not agree to these terms. However, how the institution came to that conclusion is revealing. The arbitrator states:
It was not until mid September that an unnamed supervisor saw a blog post from the Union talking about how the weekend differential pay would be available to salaried and hourly employees that OHSU contended the Union had misunderstood this new differential. It is unknown whether this unnamed supervisor had any role in the parties’ negotiations but it is somewhat curious that they would feel compelled to bring the issue to the forefront but remain “unnamed”.
To this day, our union has no idea who this unknown supervisor is, or if they even exist.
Furthermore, OHSU contends that through the various iterations of its proposals and/or supposals it always qualified that “actual language be agreed”. However, the tentative agreement signed by both parties on August 13, 2019 included both a weekend differential and a preceptor differential. That tentative agreement did not include exemptions to Appendix A (which regulates salaried employees benefits) and the rigorous discussion of that final negotiation did not indicate that salaried employees would be exempt. The arbitrator writes:
That qualifier [actual language be agreed] would apply to the concepts or terms that were outlined in the Tentative Agreement however it would be a stretch to conclude that there was any concept or term in the TA that would lead to the exclusion of salaried employees from the weekend and preceptor differentials. Appendix A was at the forefront in several of the negotiating sessions between the parties. It remained at the forefront during the mediation sessions.
For the second time in the last year, our union has won a major arbitration against OHSU in a case that from the outset was clear of the outcome. Why OHSU Labor Relations continues to choose this path rather than settle clear cases is a question that our union cannot answer. However, we will continue to hold OHSU accountable, and never stop advocating and fighting for our members.