Not many students were around this summer when University classified workers marched down 13th Street to deliver a letter to the Chancellor’s office denouncing contract changes proposed by the Oregon University System.
And few students saw the 1,250 knee-high purple flags classified employees stuck in the ground behind Johnson Hall in August to represent each union member at the University.
But while students were gone, tensions were building between OUS administration and its classified workers, who fill thousands of food service, clerical, janitorial and maintenance positions on university campuses.
On Sept. 6, those tensions culminated when Oregon Public Employees Union members voted to strike if OUS does not meet its demands for higher wages, benefits and other contract changes.
By law, the earliest the union can strike is Sept. 17. By press time, it still was not clear whether union members would strike.
Bart Lewis, statewide chairman for the OPEU, said he hoped the vote would put pressure on OUS administrators to meet union demands he said are within their means to fulfill.
“We know they have the money to pay what we’re asking,” he said.
At the University, 99 percent of union members voted for the strike, said University OPEU chapter president Cheri Smith.
“There was overwhelming support for the strike and we’re hoping that will send a strong message that we’re not willing to accept the contract as is,” she said.
Bob Bruce, OUS spokesman, was not available for direct comment, but did tell the Associate Press that OUS is actively working toward a solution and in the event of a strike, managers and unclassified employees would fill in for striking workers.
The strike vote applied to Local 503 of the OPEU’s Service Employees International Union, which represents 3,800 classified workers on OUS campuses. Since April, the union has been in negotiations with OUS to redefine salary, benefits and other selected areas of the contract the OUS has with classified employees.
In August, OPEU declared a bargaining impasse after union members became frustrated with the OUS’s reluctance to put a final offer on the table.
At the time, OUS representatives said they delayed putting together final figures because they had not had time to figure out how much money in the 2001-2002 budget would be available for salary and benefit increases.
Under Oregon law, however, when a bargaining impasses occurs, both sides must submit a final contract offer within seven days of the impasse declaration.
Once final offers were in, the two sides continued to meet under state mediation.
Union members have asked for a minimum hourly wage of $9.50 for all employees, a salary increase of 3.2 percent each year for the next two years or a monthly increase of $60, whichever is greater. They are also requesting that OUS increase health benefits to cover health insurance premiums that have risen since the contract was last negotiated.
OUS has offered classified employees a total increase of $20.4 million in salary and benefits for 2001 through 2003. That proposal includes a 2.2 percent salary increase in each of the next two years. OUS would also cover all medical costs for workers making less than $30,000 a year. Those making more would be compensated for 75 percent of the increased premium.
Representatives from both sides were in negotiations up until the day before the strike vote, Smith said, but only small progress was made on what she called “insignificant articles.” The two sides could not agree on salary and benefit increases, she added.
If classified workers do go on strike, she said, any number of services on campus will be interrupted. Students will have difficulty getting their financial aid, moving into University housing will be “chaotic,” and regular maintenance and cleaning will stop, she said.