State of Oregon workers ratify two-year pact


SALEM — Union contracts covering 21,700 state workers were approved via mail-in ballots counted Aug. 19. The contracts cover 3,700 clerical and support workers in the state university system and 18,000 workers in the Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS), a unit which includes most state agencies.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 reported 93 percent of ballots were cast in favor of the contracts.

Under the new contract, workers get cost-of-living wage increases retroactive to July 1 and then again in Dec. 1, 2006. Each increase is equal to 2 percent or $50 a month, whichever is greater. The $50 floor means that all workers making less than $30,000 — about one-third of the bargaining unit — will get an increase of over 2 percent.

The contract also restores annual step increases that were frozen the last two years, gives an additional step increase to those who missed two step increases during the freeze, and adds a ninth step at the top in July 2006.

Part-time workers who work over 50 percent of full-time will now get the same health benefits as full-time workers. Those under half-time are eligible for a partial employer contribution to health coverage.

Workers in 30 job classifications in the DAS unit and 21 classifications in the Oregon University System got selective pay increases equal to one or two steps on the pay scale.


Home | About

© Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.