OHSU Asks to Open Budget Talks with Local 328
As you are very likely aware, OHSU recently announced significant financial losses and its leadership is pursuing a variety of cost-saving measures, including pay cuts for faculty and unclassified (non-union) employees and a reduction in spending on supplies.
Some of you may wonder why no cuts to our pay have been announced. Simply stated, it is not permissible for OHSU to cut our pay when we have a contract in place. OHSU cannot impose unilateral wage reductions, FTE reductions or similar actions with a financial impact to the terms of our contract without our union’s approval.
OHSU approached union leadership today about opening budget talks, but the specifics of OHSU’s position are not yet known; we will begin formal discussions next week. The process will move forward with the following steps:
OHSU’s formal request to enter into discussions, with subsequent meeting;
Local 328 executive board’s determination of whether the 2019 bargaining team is the body with jurisdiction;
Presiding body’s authorization of a smaller team to engage in discussion with OHSU within certain parameters.
If OHSU does ask us to make changes to our contract, our union has two options:
We can decline to make any changes, preserving all of the gains we made during bargaining in 2019. This choice will almost certainly result in layoffs down the line. Even in the event of layoffs, however, OHSU must follow the contractual process, which can involve placement/displacement options, the preferential hire list, severance pay, etc.
We can negotiate changes to the financial terms of our contract that would be acceptable to our members and meet OHSU’s needs and stated wish to avoid layoffs.
If changes to our contract are negotiated and an acceptable agreement with OHSU is reached, the proposed agreement would be voted on by our dues-paying members. Before any vote happens, there will be ample opportunities for you to learn more and to give feedback to our leadership. The first such opportunity will be a virtual town hall being planned for the week of May 11. More information about this event will be shared as soon as possible.
As more information about this process becomes available over the coming weeks, please talk with your coworkers, ask questions of your unit stewards, comment here on our blog and attend our virtual meetings as they’re scheduled. This will be a decision we make together, and we will get through it together.