dollars in the past four years.
Legislators and union officials
are unsure where the study
stands.
More about the study pro
bably won't be known until
the unions and the Executive
Department enter bargaining
talks, says Lisa Sieracki, the
local president of the Univer
sity Oregon Public Employees
Union Bargaining has been
postponed twice in the past
two weeks, she says. “Pay
equity bargaining is confusing
because the players keep
changing, and now there are
going to be new Executive
Department personnel.”
Sieracki says.
Informal negotiations have
been undertaken by union
representatives. Executive
Department personnel and
Sen, Larry Hill. D Eugene,
the chairman of the Senate
Labor Committee
“The job value study is the
state’s thing; it’s their respon
sibility," Sieracki says. The
union doesn’t actively oppose
the new study, but “the union
can say, 'Go ahead develop
these new classifications, and
we ll work with you, but no
matter what, we’re going to
bargain for pay equity,’ ” she
says.
vv^ uu iiav^ over
the negative fallout from the
last study,” says Margaret
Hallock, an OPEU represen
tative. “That’s one reason
we’re calling this pay equity
instead of comparable worth
although it’s basically the
same thing.
"If you take comparable
worth to its extreme, you get
some real weird results.”
Hallock says.
“Gov. Atiyeh made a big
mistake." says Hill. “He spent
a half-million dollars on a
(job value) reclassification
study, but it was a study that
was conducted behind closed
doors with no participation by
legislators or employees.
“As a result, legislators and
state employees don't have a
lot of confidence in the study
The new classifications pro
bably will not be implemented
immediately because of that
lack of confidence. There
seems to be a consensus to
that,” he says
The job value study will be
phased in for state jobs during
the next two years. Hill says.
The slow, phase-in process
will give legislators and
employees a chance to review
the new job-value
classifications
"The pay equity money
and the reclassification would
not be directly linked, but
both would be phased in over
time in two years," Hill says
"Some of the money for
pay equity could be divided
based on the current
classifications," he says But
the new job-value classes will
not be thrown out "Our cur
rent classifications are so anti
que that we have a classifica
tion for mule team drivers So
we must do a reclassification,
but the problem is that Atiyeh
did not include other people
"The new classification
developed . . with Atiyeh’s
half-million will be reviewed,
we won’t just throw it out.
The changes that may be
brought into the job-value
study will probably be minor
but until it’s reviewed, we
can’t implement it without the
input from the Legislature
and employees ’’
The fate of the million
dollar, job-value study hangs
uncertainly in the legislative
breeze
But legislators are
predicting widespread
support for pay equity
raises, even if those raises are
made under old job value
categories.
"If last session was any
basis, the majority support it,"
says Rep Darlene Hooley, D
West Linn. “The issue this
session will be how much
money to put into it ”
Hooley notes that Atiyeh
began the 1985 session with a
$15 million pay equity recom
mendation, and by the end of
the session that shrank to $5
million and was then vetoed
“There are a lot of wonder
ful new programs and terrific
ideas floating around that cost
money,” she says. "People
generally agree on the con
cept of pay equity The whole
secret will be, 'Can we hang
on to the $10 million.’
The chances of going
beyond the governor’s
recommendation are slim to
zero, she says.
“I think there seems to be a
pretty firm desire on the part
of at least some legislators
that this was supposed to
happen last time and didn’t;
now it’s their time, they’ve
been waiting since ’81
“A whole lot of those pro
grams are very worthy and
make so much sense, but pay
equity is at the top of my list
of priorities because they’ve
had to wait for it and their
time has come."
State employee unions see
Goldschmidt’s recommenda
tion as a wonderful first step
"Were absolutely delighted
that he thought it appropriate
to include a separate recom
mendation for pay equity,”
Hallock says But the union
hopes to see more than the
$10 million
“From our point of view,
(the $10 million) has to be
done; it’s a housekeeping
measure.. .The $10 million
is certainly sufficient to
upgrade the clerical and ser
vice jobs by approximately 5
to 6 percent
“There may be discussions
down the road on whether
that was the first step or the
only step." Hallock says.
Hill says he wants to make
sure the basics of pay equity
legislation are agreed upon by
the governor and the
employee unions before the
new pay equity bill, Senate
Bill 288, passes out of his
committee.
He says the informal
negotiation with the different
parties will determine the
common ground The bill
may go through minor
changes, but "it won’t come
out of my committee until
there’s basic agreement bet
ween the two unions and the
governor’s office,” Hill says
"If there isn't that basic agree
ment. then the chances are
greater that the money would
be siphoned off for something
else ”
And pay equity legislation
has to be a primary concern
of the state this session
because of the Washington
state lawsuit, Hill says.
“Unless we address this
issue, the state’s probably go
ing to get sued,” he says. "I
don’t know if it’d win, but the
courts are moving in that
direction.
“We should require
bargaining between labor and
management to reduce ine
quities,” Hill says.
"Each time a contract is
signed, it should reduce the
pay inequities that exist bet
ween jobs dominated by
women and jobs dominated
by men "□
NORTHWEST'S
LARGEST
SELECTION
★ LEOTARD ★
★ TIGHTS ★
★ WARM-UPS *
DANCE SHOES * MAKE UP
* Sotlouch
* Marika
* Lynn Craft
* Capv/io
★ Barely l.ej>al
★ Speedo
★ Danskin
★ Dance France
★ Flexatard
. Broadway * Downtown Mall
SIS-2S71 * Sundays 12-4
)
Travel the World at
rrrrrrr.\ Folkways
m * m • » mm % • • • tmm » • h •'
5v
Clothing, jewelry and
folk art from 40 countries.
Fifth St Public Market
762 E 13th
downstairs next to the Excelsior
, 683-2204 343-8667
FOLKWAYS IMPORTS 0
Ski Bus!
Tickets available at
Brother Jonathan’s
13th & Oak. 343-6088
$7.50 Round Trip
Iron Horse Stage Lines
Willamette Pass • Odell Lake Lodge • Phone 688-3253
Also available for charier.
—UOBookstore—■
cV^'!saTurPay
CElEDr^T|ON5
AT me UO BOOKSTORE
AGES 3-6 • II OO IN THE GENERAL BOOK DEPT.
Feb. 21 What We Wear
13th A Kincaid
M E 7 30 5 30
SAT 10 tX) 4 1X1
6S0 4331
tut*
DUNHAM
■YUGO
YUGO
YUGO
YUGO
VALLEY RIVER • EUGENE • 345-151 1
■SPECIAL ACTION PAN PHICE OP I4IIM0 YOU ll Nt t O WHOSO DOWN PIUS II
CfNSf A rim MAKl bO PAYMINfS ON APPKOVID < PtDIt I I 99% APII
DRINKING AND DRIVING
CAN KILL A FRIENDSHIP
Tape duplication
instant cassette copies!
Quality stereo or monaural duplication
Check the prices today at your
Bookstore