Members of several bargaining units at Clackamas County voted to ratify new contracts, averting a strike that was planned for April 14. The vote among members of the independent Clackamas County Employees’ Association (CCEA) main unit was 75% in support. Separate contracts were also approved by similar margins for smaller CCEA units at the Housing Authority of Clackamas County, and among part-time and seasonal workers. In all, CCEA represents around 1,300 county workers.
The new contracts include a 4.1% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) retroactive to July 1, 2024.
CCEA President Alex Gonzalez said the amount of the COLA was agreed upon in bargaining, but the strike was scheduled after the county refused to make the wage increase retroactive. County officials had earlier said that if the union didn’t agree to a new contract by Dec. 31, 2024, they wouldn’t make any of the raises retroactive. Gonzalez said the union wasn’t willing to settle the contract by Dec. 31 because some articles were still open at the time.
“Part of it also was not setting the precedent of allowing the county to set an arbitrary deadline,” he said.
The county acquiesced in a final mediation session the week before the strike date.
Under the new contract, employees will also get an inflation-based COLA in years two and three.
Clackamas County will also reimburse workers for health insurance premium increases that went into effect in January, the county said in a press release.
The union was seeking two paid holidays for part-time and temporary workers, who did not previously get any pay for holidays even if their regularly scheduled shift was canceled because it fell on a holiday. The county ultimately agreed to one floating 10-hour holiday for employees who have been with the county for at least a year.
CCEA also sought increases to sick and vacation accrual, but those did not change.
“It’s a mixed bag, but I think overall, we came out ahead,” Gonzalez said. “As a small, independent union, it was nice to see that there was a really fast motivational drive to get us going.”
This was the first time in CCEA history that the union had declared impasse or taken a strike authorization vote. Supporters raised more than $9,000 for a strike fund, which the union said would give them a head start in future efforts.
