Solidarity with BERG — Point of Action # 7: Increase Funding for and Partner More Deeply with the BERG
To the BERG: Our union sees, recognizes and values the incredible leadership and perseverance of our Black colleagues at OHSU. We stand in solidarity with the BERG. AFSCME Local 328 has been reflecting as a union, and we recognize our ability to do much better.
As stated in our December 2020 letter to the OHSU Black Employee Resource Group, AFSCME Local 328 has committed to stand and bear witness to the BERG’s letter sent to OHSU leadership and the board of directors on August 31, 2020, which called out concerns around OHSU’s racist practices, particularly those impacting Black employees. This month we address the seventh of the BERG’s 14 Points of Action, which is to:
Increase funding and support Employee Resource Groups for Black employees. Welcome, encourage and facilitate the BERG functioning as more than a sponsor of Black History Month or a PR, marketing and recruiting tool.
In OHSU’s response to the BERG, it is outlined that the Center for Diversity and Inclusion will be making improvements to the ERG program, including creation of a document outlining the roles and responsibilities of the ERG chairperson. Have the ERGs been asked to collaborate on this process, to ensure support of the specific mission of the ERG? Has OHSU sought input from the ERGs to determine what additional improvements will elevate the ERGs and support their role within OHSU? Additionally, these guidelines must include protected time and OHSU leadership must make clear to managers that AFSCME-represented employees who are elected to ERG leadership roles are not responsible for managing staffing issues that may impede their ability to fulfill their duties.
The executive-sponsorship program that OHSU plans to implement is intriguing, and we have a few questions about it:
How will the executive sponsors be determined? Will they be assigned or chosen? If chosen, by whom?
Will the executive sponsors change yearly when ERG leadership changes?
How can it be ensured that executive sponsors are in alignment with their ERG, but also have diversity in thought and an ability to provide support in different ways?
Will executive sponsors be paid extra to do this work, or will it be done on a volunteer basis because they believe in the ERG missions?
Are the leadership-development opportunities related to the executive sponsors? What are the specific opportunities? How does one find out that they exist and find out how to access them?
Ultimately, OHSU’s response did not address the request to increase funding for the BERG and other ERGs. This was the crux of this point of action, and we see this demand as separate from granting stipends to ERG leaders. Local 328 has committed $250 to each ERG annually to support their efforts (i.e., to help cover expenses such as refreshments during meetings, speakers, parking, etc.). We would like to see OHSU allocate funding to the BERG and create a transparent process for accessing these funds to support the BERG’s mission. A willingness to financially invest in the BERG would demonstrate OHSU’s commitment to action.
AFSCME Local 328 continues to hold the entire OHSU community accountable (including but not limited to members of our bargaining unit, OHSU leadership, students and researchers) to do their part — individually and collectively — in remaking OHSU into an anti-racist institution. In order for this to happen, we must all be accountable and demonstrate transparency. As such, we stand with the BERG and their call for OHSU to increase funding for the BERG and partner more deeply with the BERG.