A new union contract with Associated General Contractors (AGC) will raise journeyman wages $9.50 over the next three years for members of Operating Engineers Local 701.
The contract covers members in Oregon and Southwest Washington who operate heavy machinery like earth-movers and road equipment on construction and highway projects. Local 701 held meetings around the state to discuss the agreement, which members voted Dec. 9 to ratify. The agreement provides a $3.50 an hour raise on Jan. 1, followed by $3 raises on Jan. 1, 2027 and 2028. It runs through Dec. 31, 2028.
Local 701 business manager Jim Anderson said negotiations went well and AGC came to the table ready to bargain.
Current journeymen wages vary from $48.09 to $63.26 an hour depending on the kind of equipment operated. A union backhoe operator right now can make $52.55 an hour in the Portland metro area, for example. That worker would be making $62.05 an hour by the end of the new contract.
The agreement also provides an additional 50 cents an hour that will increase funding for the union-sponsored health and welfare fund and other benefit funds. And it provides a 50 cent raise in the “zone premium” that workers earn when they work in more remote corners of the state.
