The Oregon University System and the Service Employees International Union local 503 reached an agreement Aug. 21, averting a strike that would have begun less than two weeks before fall term.
“The individual commitment and dedication of the bargainers, and the campuses’ involvement since the beginning of the year, is what enabled us to reach an agreement and be able to start the new academic year with a focus on our students,” OUS Chancellor Richard Jarvis said in a press release.
The agreement is the culmination of more than nine months of bargaining between the statewide classified-workers’ union and OUS. The union must still ratify the agreement by a vote of its members, OUS Senior Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Tom Anderes said.
If union members agree to the negotiated terms, the strike — threatened by the University’s 1,250 classified workers after OUS declared an impasse to negotiations on Aug. 8 — will be prevented.
The proposed two-year contract itself satisfies many of the union’s demands.
First, both full-time and part-time employees who work at least 80 paid hours in a month will continue to receive fully paid health care, which is the same as in the previous two-year contract, OUS Spokeswoman Di Saunders said.
OUS pulled its proposals for altering employee work schedules and unpaid furloughs, representing a big victory for the union, said Star Holmberg, the union’s bargaining table representative.
The union won a clear-cut victory with respect to the right to “bump” laid-off employees, maintaining the current rules for bumping into geographical areas. Under the contract language, laid-off employees may take the position of any employee, including those with lesser seniority, within the geographic area of the campus, which in the University’s case includes properties on the coast, in central Oregon and in the Portland area. OUS lost on its proposal to restrict bumping to within administrative units only, which would have greatly reduced the practice.
Also, if the University wants to hire contractors, it must accept bids from both outside contractors and the union, Saunders said. If a contractor’s bid is lower, the University will take 80 percent of the amount the union proposes and consider that bid, effectively giving the union an advantage over outside contractors.
OUS didn’t give cost-of-living increases, but instead agreed to disperse a $350 lump payment for all eligible employees in November 2004, according to a press release.
As far as employment perks, both sides agreed to take it on a case-by-case basis, entering into negotiations as modifications or eliminations are proposed. There are a few stipulations attached, however. First, bus passes for classified employees must be maintained, and secondly, the University must give classified employees the same treatment as faculty in respect to perks, Saunders said.
Anderes said an agreement was reached this year earlier than it has been settled in the past.
“This was due, in part, to the governor’s settlements,” he said. “But also because both sides wanted to move on.”
Holmberg also said that she was generally satisfied a contract had been reached.
“I think it’s as good as we can get in hard economic times,” she said. “You might say better late than never. It’s a change in attitude that could have happened a lot earlier, of course. Every bargaining cycle since (1995), we’ve been pushed to the wire. This time it’s still earlier that a tentative agreement has been reached than any of the other bargaining cycles.”