After more than a year bargaining for a first contract, researchers at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) voted 92% to authorize a strike in a vote that ended Jan. 30. Bargaining between Research Workers United and OHSU stalled over wages and cashing out unused paid time off. Some positions in the unit require a bachelor’s degree and pay less than $20 per hour, including research assistants who make $37,600 annually or $18.08 per hour.
“We’re sympathetic to the pressure being placed on labs by the federal funding landscape, but we will not allow OHSU to settle this contract by locking in continued wage stagnation for our members,” bargaining team member Lynne Swarbrick told OHSU’s board at a Jan. 30 meeting.
