More than 3,000 Multnomah County workers have a new three-year union contract that brings wage increases and bonuses.
Members of AFSCME Local 88 voted by 91% to approve the contract in early November, with voter turnout of 56%. The vote came after about seven months of bargaining and a handful of rallies AFSCME staged outside county facilities. It’s the first full contract negotiation for the Multnomah County bargaining unit in five years.
Workers will get a 5% pay increase retroactive to July 1, and a bonus of $2,500. The bonus will appear on Dec. 31 checks, and the retroactive pay will be applied in 2023, according to a bargaining update from AFSCME. Workers will get another 5% raise and $2,000 bonus in July 2023. The contract also increases the vacation accrual rate and cap, and expands essential worker pay to cover more situations.
With the contract ratified, Local 88 will focus on negotiating “market adjustment”—means examining and potentially raising wages for certain jobs, before the next full contract renegotiation. The union will start by identifying jobs that haven’t had compensation studies in the past five years, and will prioritize those jobs for consideration. Workers who believe they’re not being paid market rate can submit a form to AFSCME here.
