Bargaining Update : March 4th
On Tuesday, our bargaining team passed our counter to OHSU’s return to work site language, an update to paid bereavement leave, and several other substantive proposals and counters.
Several of OHSU’s bargaining team members were ill, so we agreed to meet with them virtually to pass language.
Our team passed the following proposals and counters:
2.12 Negotiating Team Counter
5.41 Temporary Non-Bargaining Unit Worker Counter
6.15.7 Return to OHSU Work Site Counter
7.2.6 Temporary Change to Work Location Counter
10.13 Float Pool Department Differential
12.3 Use of Vacation Counter
14.1.8 Bereavement Leave
17.2.3 Employment Outside of Bargaining Unit Proposal
23.7 Employer’s Package re Unpaid Administrative Leave Counter
29.2 Negotiations for New Contract Counter
OHSU’s proposals mainly centered on making language clearer and more advantageous for management.
OHSU proposals included:
5.5 Consensus
5.46 Work Unit
6.11 Personality Profiles
10.2.2 Selection process and priority to internal candidates
Our counter for return to work site gave specific definitions for hybrid and fully remote workers with a plan to define employees’ status based on our actual work schedules over the past six months and not just the status our supervisor believes we should have. Employees who come in for a single meeting once a month or once a year are not hybrid and we’ve proposed that OHSU pay travel expenses during those rarely required trips to the office.
We expanded the amount of time our members will have to make arrangements for coming back to the office and we reduced the number of miles that’s considered “local.” We also requested that employees who have moved outside of the area receive layoff rights so they can decide whether it’s worth it to move back into commuting distance from the office or whether they want to move on to other opportunities with all the benefits of someone whose position is eliminated.
We also requested safety language for employees returning to the office: “The employer shall ensure that employees receive updated policies, safety protocols and the employee is not expected to work in a building alone.”
A summary of the differences in our initial proposals are below:
OHSU proposed:
No change to reasons for return to work.
No strict definition of hybrid versus fully remote.
“Local” is considered to be anyone within forty miles of OHSU.
Local, hybrid employees would need to return to the work site with at least 28 days’ notice. Local, fully remote employees would need to return to the work site with at least 60 days’ notice.
“Out of area” employees would have an “opportunity to bargain” a return to work. This would be interim bargaining, which is rarely a process that is beneficial to the employee.
No process if there are a large number of requests to return to work site.
AFSCME Local 328 proposed:
Any return to work site requires a business need that is documented in writing and shared with the union as well as the employee.
Hybrid remote employees is defined as anyone who must return to the office at least one day a week. Employees will be classified as hybrid or fully remote based on how many days they’ve had to go to an OHSU work site within the last 6 months.
“Local” is considered anyone within 20 miles of OHSU.
Hybrid employees returning to the work site will receive 90 days notice. Moving from fully remote to hybrid or full time back at the office requires 120 days notice.
“Out of area” employees will be given 180 days notice and the ability to accept a voluntary layoff.
If more than 25 employees are brought back to the office in a quarter, we can reopen the contract.
Our other proposals included expanding paid bereavement leave to 40 hours per year with the bank of hours maxing out at 80, reducing management’s ability to restrict access to paid bereavement leave, increasing our float pool department differential from $1 to $6 and adding an $8 differential when you float to another department.
Our streaming worked flawlessly this week! If you’d like to review the recording, it is located here.
In our last contract, we won paid bereavement leave, 7/5/5 cost of living adjustments, wellness leave and so much more. That wouldn’t have been possible without everyone using their voice and staying updated on bargaining news. As we are head back to the negotiating table next week to fight for better pay, better benefits and a better workplace, remember to keep talking to your coworkers about bargaining. Now is the time to stay connected.
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