By DON McINTOSH
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 and the Oregon university system are pretty far apart on bargaining over raises for campus support workers. Local 503 represents about 4,500 workers in over 200 job classifications who keep the system’s seven public universities running, from office workers and custodians to nurses in campus clinics and electricians, locksmiths, and other tradespeople.
They’re two years into a five-year contract that expires June 30, 2026, and are bargaining wages for the remaining three years. The first two cost of living raises were 3.1% and 2.5%, but inflation went up 17% during that time.
As of Dec. 2, the state is proposing increases of 5%, 3.5%, and 1.5%, far below Local 503’s proposals of 10.25%, 6%, and 6.5%.
Local 503 says the state also proposes to take away a personal day and make it easier to outsource.
Local 503 is collecting signed pledges that workers will vote yes to authorize a strike. Â
