After an 18-hour bargaining session that ended after 5 a.m. Dec. 17, Oregon’s largest hospital and the state’s largest local of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) reached tentative agreement on a new contract.
AFSCME Local 328 represents around 8,000 workers at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). The union reached the tentative agreement nearly a month after workers authorized a strike.
The proposed contract gives raises of at least 10.25% over three years and sets a wage floor of $25 by the time the contract expires June 30, 2028.
If workers ratify the contract, they’ll get raises two weeks later of 4% or $1.25 per hour, whichever is higher. For the one-fifth of Local 328 members who earn less than $27.47 per hour — which is what the Massachusetts Institute of Technology calculates is what a single adult would need to live in Multnomah County — the $1.25 raise would be at least 4.6%.
Workers would then get a 3.25% raise in July 2026 and 3% in July 2027.
Workers would also get lump-sum bonuses upon ratification of $4,500 for employees working at least half-time and $2,250 for employees working less than half-time. That’s roughly equivalent to an extra 88 cents per hour for a full-time employee over the life of the contract.
In a summary of the tentative agreement, Local 328’s bargaining team said they believed the tentative agreement was the best contract they could negotiate with OHSU in the present environment.
“Our team has had to balance our knowledge of how often our employer has cried wolf with the obvious political realities of the time we find ourselves in,” they wrote, referring to OHSU’s claims of not having the money to afford bigger raises for workers. “Research funding is being illegally terminated, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are in jeopardy, and workers rights are under attack.”
The contract also increases paid “well-being leave,” typically used for mental health; expands the amount and use of bereavement leave; adds protections to ensure workers aren’t punished for using sick leave; and adds more union steward positions with more paid time for steward work.
As of press time, the ratification vote was tentatively scheduled for early to mid-January.
