Collective Bargaining: Workplace Democracy In Action
The next bargaining session for the next Local 328 AFSCME contract with OHSU will be happening in 2025. It is not too early to start thinking about ideas for what you may suggest and advocate that we, as Local 328, attempt to integrate into the next AFSCME Contract with OHSU. If you already have ideas, please share them with our union via the bargaining topics form.
In March, a Bargaining Roadmap was sent to union members via OHSU email. The road map is as follows:
April, May 2024 - Bargaining contract education in monthly membership meetings.
June 2024 - Bargaining team and AFSCME International Convention nominations.
July 2024 - Bargaining team and AFSCME International Convention Delegate vote.
Fall 2024 - Contract Townhalls start, Bargaining Team Forums begin, and a new bargaining survey is conducted.
Winter 2025 - Bargaining will begin.
Summer 2025 - Current Local 328 contract expires on 7/1/25 and Strike Vote could occur if Bargaining Impasse happens.
Please keep this timeline in mind; attending Local 328 membership meetings, reading the Local 328 Blog, and checking your email will be good ways to stay up to date about how to be an active participant in securing a fair and just union contract in 2025.
If you want to learn more or be more involved, please know that The Labor Education & Research Center LERC Summer School happening July 19-21, is already open for registration. One bargaining related course offered during LERC Summer School is How to Reach the Finish Line: End-Game Factors in Bargaining. Local 328 is willing to send some of our members to this program. If you are interested in actively participating in the 2025 bargaining process, and are interested in attending LERC Summer School as part of this, please email education@local328.org to express interest.
There are also plans to provide bargaining training from the Labor Education & Research Center (LERC) to the Local 328 bargaining team directly. Additionally, the Collective Bargaining Institute will happen in early December, and registration for that will open later this year. We want all union members to feel comfortable participating in the bargaining process!
In the last year, during bargaining, United Auto Workers, a union of ~390,000 members, advocated for a standard 32 hour week. If unions are strong and nationally engaged, perhaps in 3 or 6 or 9 years, that will be a standard reality for many Americans. Bargaining matters. In the 2022 bargaining session, we were able to secure for our Local 328 membership 7%, 5%, 5% across the board wage increases, ANI pay, and more.
Please be thinking about the bargaining process, how you (and each of us) can strengthen our union for bargaining, and how you might like to be involved. Keep an eye out for additional bargaining communications and attend membership meetings to be an active member during this next bargaining session.
