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October 19, 2007 Volume 108 Number 20
AFSCME Local 88 members ratify contract at Multnomah CountyMembers of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 88 have ratified a new four-year contract with Multnomah County. The contract — retroactive to July 1 and expiring June 30, 2011 — was ratified by 88.5 percent of the union’s membership. Local 88 represents about 3,000 county workers. Local 88 members will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 2.7 percent for the current year, retroactive to July 1. Bargaining unit members will receive an annual COLA of between 2 and 5 percent on July 1 each of the next three years; the exact amounts will be determined by the Portland-area Consumer Price Index. Health care benefits and premiums will remain the same through Jan. 1, 2009. In the interim, a new labor-management Employee Benefits Team will form and review health care coverage. The Employee Benefits Team will examine current plan designs and cost-sharing to take place in 2009. If the team cannot come to an agreement, a default plan has been agreed to. Another team will make recommendations by Sept. 1, 2008 for 30-hour per week employees at the Multnomah County Library. The agreement also allows Local 88’s president to access the county’s e-mail system to send communications to union-represented employees, it allows the use of up to 24 hours of vacation time per year for emergency situations and preventative medical and dental appointments and declares that letters of reprimand older than two years will not be counted in disciplinary actions. © Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.
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