A new four-year contract covering about 500 employees of the Metro regional government is expected to keep wages up with inflation.
The agreement between AFSCME Local 3580 and Metro — which was ratified by the Metro Council Aug. 12 — raises pay across-the-board by 2.67% retroactive to July 1. Then each July 1 pay will rise based on average annual inflation over the previous two years, with a minimum of 2% and maximum of 5%. If average inflation ends up being under 1% or over 7%, the two sides will automatically reopen negotiations over wages.
The previous contract raised wages 9% over four years, but that meant members fell behind in purchasing power because of inflation.
Local 3580 president Matan Gold said the new inflation language will give members some stability.
“We’re in a hard place right now economically, so I’m really proud that we were able to get a bounded CPI of 2% to 5%,” Gold said. Metro’s budget is tight enough that there were layoffs this spring.
The new agreement also improves conditions for “variable hour employees.” Those are employees working less than 1,040 hours a year (the equivalent of 20 hours a week) who may be brought in to cover a temporary or seasonal surge in work — at a transfer station during a waste collection event, for example, or at the Oregon Convention Center during a big event. Under the new contract, variable hour employees will now get a step pay increase every time they complete another 2,080 hours. Metro also commits not to use variable hour employees to replace regular part-time or full-time employees. Improving conditions for variable hour employees was personally meaningful for Gold and other members of the bargaining team who got their start at Metro as variable hour employees.
“I’m grateful for how Metro conducted themselves,” Gold said. “It was good negotiating with them.”
As a regional government, Metro is responsible for the Oregon Zoo, several public arts and events venues, regional parks and natural areas, and garbage and recycling. It’s also in charge of land use and transportation planning for the region, including the urban growth boundary that limits development on farm and timber land.
