Thanks for a Great Rally!

Thank you for a great rally on Thursday!

Based on the numbers from our sign-in sheets and the amount of food consumed, we estimate that about 650 people came out to stand with Local 328 in our fight for a good contract. Members showed up in force, even though so many of us work remotely, and we appreciate it! We’re also thankful for the support from our non-AFSCME coworkers and the community members who showed up and helped us send a strong message to OHSU that it’s time to invest in us.

Does a well-attended rally resolve the issues where the bargaining teams remain far apart? No, but our members’ support was critical to the process and will help our bargaining team in our efforts to get management to bring contract language that meets our membership's needs. We’re scheduled for many days of mediation in July, and it's imperative that our members participate in events and actions we’ll be holding this month, as well as consider what they're willing to do to escalate if OHSU will not move at the table.

If you missed the rally, below is a copy of the speech our president, Michael Stewart gave, as well as a selection of photos; you can also watch this clip about the rally from KOIN. If you attended and have photos to share, send them to afscmemes@gmail.com and we’ll post them on our Facebook page.

“Good afternoon, Local 328! Thank you for being here. As you know, we’re several months into bargaining. Our contract expires tonight. We’ve made good progress on many bargaining topics, but OHSU and our union still remain quite far apart on issues such as across-the-board wage increases, staffing, DEI and more, including additional economic proposals.

OHSU says it can’t give us what we deserve — what we need — but the truth is that it chooses not to. For nearly two decades, OHSU has focused almost exclusively on constant expansion across the state as its plan for increasing its profit margins. The employer is continuing to use this short-sighted corporate model, which views buildings and equipment as valuable assets to invest in, but the people who keep OHSU running as expendable — as liabilities whose wages and benefits must be kept at the lowest possible levels.

OHSU has staffed to a razor’s edge, ignoring our warnings that staffing levels were too low and unsustainable, and has embraced mandatory overtime as a way to fill chronically open shifts caused by intentional understaffing — sacrificing our members’ well-being and work-life balance. OHSU even ignored its own data backing up what we were telling them. Year after year, they’ve ignored their own survey results warning of staff burnout and low morale.

We’ve tried to negotiate changes and warn OHSU of the danger that chronic low staffing poses to patients and staff. It all fell on deaf ears. Management didn’t listen or care. Every time bargaining has rolled around, OHSU has approached the process as a way to cut costs and neglect the needs of rank-and-file workers, instead of viewing it as an opportunity to work with our unions to make reasonable and fair investments in its employees.

When COVID-19 hit and the chickens came home to roost, we didn’t hesitate — we answered the call of our community. Already understaffed work units were overwhelmed, pushing our health-care workers to the breaking point. As the pandemic continued, our members and families fell ill, further exacerbating the staffing shortage. Even under these conditions and worse, we continued to respond with courage to serve our community. We went above and beyond what was expected. We overcame every challenge to save patients’ lives and keep OHSU functioning day to day.

Now, more than two years into the pandemic, amidst the Great Resignation, fed-up and burned-out OHSU workers are leaving in droves, adding to vacancies that have sat open for months and months. Much of this could have been avoided had OHSU invested in its rank-and-file employees, staffed appropriately and paid as much attention to recruiting and retaining us as it has its bottom line.

In addition, OHSU has long enabled a culture of harassment and discrimination. For years, OHSU’s executives have ignored the reports from our members, our staff representatives and many others — reports that detailed the systemic racism and sexism at OHSU. The employer spent $6.5 million on the Covington investigation, but nothing has changed for our members, and many employees dealing with racism and harassment are opting to work elsewhere.

Now, in the face of this shameful work environment, OHSU wants you to shoulder the cost of the travelers it relied on to address staffing shortages. They are choosing not to invest in you due to the high costs incurred from paying non-employee travelers. A problem they helped to create. This employer has neglected loyal frontline workers for years, when it’s the frontline workers who got us through a crisis! Now it’s we who are in crisis, as we struggle to simply make ends meet.

Our questions to OHSU leadership are these: Will you answer our call? Do you have the same courage as the members of Local 328? Are you willing to go above and beyond, to think differently? Will you make the right choice for the loyal employees who’ve sacrificed so much and who were there when it counted most?

We deserve more than the bare minimum, more than scraps. We deserve more than to break our backs for OHSU only to be treated as liabilities. We shouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail for raises that are barely enough to cover the increased cost of living in the Portland metro areas. We are OHSU’s greatest asset and it is time for a change in leadership’s priorities. If they make the choice to refuse to meet our needs, to continue to see us as expendable, they will see our courage and our solidarity, our worth and those buildings they value so much will stand empty. It’s time for OHSU to make the choice to invest in us!”