Local 328 Proposed Constitutional Change - Dues Collection
The proposed change to our Constitution
The proposed changes to the dues cap come in the form of a constitutional amendment which reads as follows (the proposed changes to the current wording are bolded):
“Section 3. The monthly membership dues of the local shall be 1.27% of base wages as defined in the Council 75 Constitution, subject to the minimum amount as provided in the Council 75 Constitution and an additional amount of $3.48 per member per month to be rebated to the local.
Upon ratification, the dues maximum shall be increased to $120. On 7/1/2026, the dues maximum shall be increased to $150. On 7/1/2027, the dues maximum shall be removed.
The monthly membership dues shall include $2.00 per member to be placed in a defense fund. The defense fund accrual shall be capped at $1,000,000 unless increased by amendment to the local constitution. When the cap is reached,$1.00 per member shall be placed in a strike fund and the remaining funds shall revert to the local's general fund. Dues shall not be changed except by amendment to the local constitution.”
These changes do a few things. The biggest is that the maximum dues is increasing in steps that are timed to our yearly pay increase. This helps to alleviate some of the burden of the increased cap. The second changes increases the contract defense fund requirement from its current amount of 250,000 to 1,000,000. This is a dedicated fund that is used exclusively for contract defense and has a number of rules and requirements of what constitutes contract defense. Long story short; this ensures that the money you pay into our local is used to defend us and our contract.
The final change is the creation of a strike fund. This money would be set aside to be used exclusively in the event of a strike to help support our members and the strike itself. It is important to note, if you are not currently paying the dues cap then this change does not directly impact your expected dues. For those currently making less than the roughly $41/hr mark of the cap, until you start making over that amount you will not see any changes to your dues.
Upcoming dates for votes and town halls
To make sure our members understand the proposal we will be holding two town halls, one in person and one virtual. We encourage all of our members to attend these townhalls, ask questions, and express any concerns they might have. This is our union and the more involved everyone gets the better it gets. We truly are Stronger Together. These will take place at the following dates/times:
In person: Wednesday March 5th, 4-6pm - OHSU Marquam Hill BICC Gallery
Virtual: Thursday March 6th, 12-1pm
The membership vote on the changes will take place March 12-14 ending at noon on the 14th. There will be the following in person voting times and locations will be available:
CHH1 Lobby:
3/12/25: 10:30 am - 1:30 pm, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
3/13/25: 10:30 am - 1:30 pm, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
3/14/25: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
3rd Floor Cafeteria
3/12/25: 10:30 am - 1:30 pm, 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
3/13/25: 10:30 am - 1:30 pm, 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
3/14/25: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
9th Floor Hospital
3/12/25: 10:30 am - 1:30 pm, 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
3/13/25: 10:30 am - 1:30 pm, 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
3/14/25: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
What is a Dues Cap?
The current dues structure of our local is a small percentage of wages plus a flat amount each paycheck. There is a minimum amount and a maximum amount that can be taken out, with the maximum that is allowed to be taken out called a dues cap. While there is some math behind it which is explained further down, the general guideline is that if you are making roughly 41 dollars an hour or higher that your dues do not increase even if your pay increases. This cap was originally set back in 2008, and recently had a required update from our international union, but does not change based on external factors such as average wages, inflation, or COLA.
When it was originally implemented about 10% of our local had reached the cap on dues payment. Because of increased wages and pay scales over the years this number is now currently at 37%. The fact that so many of our members are making more money, getting better contract raises, and able to better themselves to higher earnings through certifications and training is an absolute win and what our Local fights for. This does also mean over a third of our members are dues capped compared to the tenth of the membership that were capped before. What this has done is put the union into a situation where even as the cost of running our union increases as it has in these past years, the amount of money coming in to support it does not increase at the same rate.
When looking at the situation the last thing our union and board wanted to do was reduce or cut back on the critical services to our members that you have all come to use and rely on, and yet the cost of those services has increased so something had to change. With this in mind, a committee was formed to look at different dues structures that were possible or changes that could be made to bridge the gap between the services we need to offer, and the dues coming in to pay for them. After reviewing different options the Dues Committee created and proposed to the Executive board the most fair and equitable way to correct the funding shortfall, which was voted approved by the board to be presented to our membership.
The Local operates under a constitution which requires any change to the collection of dues (excepting the IU mandatory compliance with minimums) to be voted on by the membership. No dues will change unless voted on by our membership.
History, Purpose, and Goals
The reasoning and need behind this requested change comes from a few different sources. The first is that the cost of goods and services has gone up in the last 20 years. Our union helps to fund a large number of services for our members that are used every day. The list includes Member Services center and staff to help our members with questions and to open IM and grievance cases. We pay for staff to attend and support members at these grievances and IM’s. We pay for legal council and fees associated with taking grievances to arbitration. We pay to help support the hardship fund, the bargaining team, the CWE, steward time, signs and swag for rallies, and even this website where we can provide information to you all to keep you informed. All of these costs have gone up dramatically in the past 20 years, while the dues cap has not changed. This does not even include the money we spend to help fight politically for laws and changes to help support our members and hospital staff such as the Safe Staffing law, and the slate of upcoming bills designed to offer better protections for all hospital workers and staff.
The second is that, while all of our union members are entitled to to have and enjoy all the services our union provides, the Janus decision means not all of our members pay dues. This is our union, and we want our members to be able to feel safe and protected through their contract and in their place of work. while we are happy to, and will continue to provide services for all of our members whether they are dues paying or not, the number of members who use these services without paying into them does add an additional strain on being able to afford it.
The final source is that in the last 20 years our union has grown by leaps and bounds. We are reaching nearly 8,500 members in total who have come to rely on the union to help and provide them the training and protection they need. While yes, with more dues paying members the amount of money coming is does increase; between rising costs not reflected in the dues cap and not all new members being dues paying members, the new member dues do not increase as fast as the cost of the provided services to the new members, leading to an even further deficit.
As for the goals with this money, the most pressing concern is to increase the funding for contract defense and to create a robust strike fund. Having the money to both fight for a contract the benefits and supports our members, and being able to defend it are some of the most critical aspects that our local needs. Along with this, the ability to afford lost time and training for our stewards and new member leaders so that they have the freedom to do what is needed in the fight for our contracted rights is a big goal with the increased funding as well.
The Math Behind the Cap
The current dues structure is 1.27% of your base wages + $3.48 per month. Dues payments are structured over 26 pay periods with the cap applied as a monthly average across those pay periods. OHSU takes dues out on only 24 pay periods for the year causing the amount taken to be setup to come to the equivalent amount at the end of the year with the two missing pay periods factored in. This ends up equaling out to 1.38% + $1.74 per pay period that the dues are taken out from, with an individual pay period cap of $46.87 ($45.13 + $1.74). A maximum of two pay periods a month have dues taken out leading to a maximum cap of $93.73 for two pay periods, or a months worth of wages. Functionally this leads to $41/hr being the rough amount to reach the cap if you are FTE 1.0 working 40 hours per week. Overtime and differentials do not apply as the dues only takes base wages into consideration.
The initial increase to 120$ per month would raise the wage to reach this minimum up to around $52.50/hr. If you are making over the current cap but below the proposed cap you would see an increase of less than 13$ total per dues paycheck depending on where you fall in that scale, while those making over this amount would see the full increase of $26.27 per month, so an increase of $13.13 per pay period in which dues are paid. This would again repeat on 7/1/2026 with the final repeal being on 7/1/2027 which would remove the cap entirely, meaning all AFSCME Local 328 members would be paying the same amount of 1.38% + 1.74$ on 24 pay periods.