Bargaining Timeline

As you may know, Local 328’s current contract with OHSU expires June 30. We’ve already posted about what that means, but we also want to explain the next steps under Oregon’s Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (ORS 243.650 – 243.806). Many of you have asked about striking — although we’ve been bargaining for almost four months and the parties are still far apart on several important issues, there are many steps between where we are now (mediation) and a possible strike. Striking is a drastic effort to get to an agreement on a contract when other methods have failed. Below are the steps we would need to to go through first:

  1. Bargaining: back-and-forth, face-to-face negotiations (minimum of 150 days)

  2. Mediation: facilitation from the Oregon Employment Relations Board to help the parties resolve outstanding issues

  3. Impasse: a declaration either party may make if no settlement is reached within 15 days of the first mediation session

  4. Final Offers: submission of final offers (with cost estimates) from both parties to the ERB — must be done within seven days of the declaration of impasse

  5. Publication: the posting of the final offers and costs on the ERB website

  6. Voluntary Fact-finding: a process that both parties can petition the ERB for, prior to the start of the “cooling-off” period (this step almost never happens)

  7. Cooling-off Period: a 30-day period that takes place after the publication of final offers

  8. Strike Vote: a vote by dues-paying members to authorize a strike — this must happen before a strike notice can given to the employer, but a strike-authorization vote doesn’t necessarily mean that a strike will take place

  9. Strike Notice: a 10-day notice to the employer and the ERB that the union intends to go on strike after the cooling-off period

  10. Employer Implementation: the implementation of all or part of the employer’s final offer, following the cooling-off period — this requires a five-day notice to the union

Our union plans to keep negotiating as long as there’s movement toward an agreement, and we hope to reach a settlement at the table. We’re meeting with OHSU without the mediator tomorrow, and are scheduled to meet with the mediator the following three Tuesdays.

Details on the PECBA process can be found here.

Jennifer Barker16 Comments