OHSU Execs and HR Team Up to Scuttle Incentive Pay
On June 22, OHSU nurses and their union (ONA) signed a letter of agreement to alleviate some of the staffing issues that have been a reality since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It included generous incentive pay and an attendance recognition program.
On June 24 at 5 p.m., as ONA’s LOA went into effect, OHSU contacted AFSCME Local 328 with a watered-down version of the agreement that included only six of our 350 job classifications and no attendance recognition.
On July 2 at 1 p.m. our union made a counteroffer that expanded the scope to additional areas of need and alleviated concerns about folks being unable to take sick time if they needed to.
On July 8, Local 328 was informed that the counteroffer was being reviewed. We did not receive another response until July 15, when our staff representatives were told that leadership was unable to agree to the terms of our counteroffer “not only because of the cost, but [because] too much time has passed for us to pursue it any further.”
We were assured by OHSU that this was a difficult decision for the management team.
In April, U.S. News & World Report warned of the critical need for respiratory therapists in America, both during the pandemic and moving forward:
“When this pandemic passes, health care institutions and policymakers need to find long-term solutions to increase the respiratory therapy workforce. A known gap already exists between the needs of persons with cardiopulmonary disease and providers trained specifically to handle their conditions; COVID-19 has only more boldly exposed this truth.”
Respiratory therapists were not one of the six positions included in OHSU’s proposal.
In the same month, BBC News reported on the vital role that environmental-service workers play in keeping everyone safe. Local stories from all over the country talked about them being the “unsung heroes of the pandemic.” EVS workers were not among the six positions included in OHSU’s proposal.
All of us who work at OHSU, no matter how we contribute to its mission, have felt the ongoing impacts of this pandemic and the staffing shortages, long hold times and full calendars it continues to cause. Our union has negotiated six LOAs, which included incentive pay or similar benefits, in as many months. What was different now? While we understand the need for targeted incentive pay, the proposal that OHSU offered was woefully insufficient, and management taking almost two weeks to respond (with no discussion of our counteroffer) shows us how important it was to management.
Today we opened nominations for our next executive board, Oregon AFL-CIO convention delegation and, perhaps most importantly, bargaining team. While Local 328 continues to fight every day for our members, we must also remember these moments as we prepare to bargain our next contract in 2022. We have carried (and continue to carry) OHSU through this pandemic. It is time we are given our due.