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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2007)
SEIU reaches tentative two-year agreement with State of Oregon SALEM — Service Employee In- ternational Union Local 503 has reached a tentative agreement with the State of Oregon on a contract covering some 18,000 employees statewide for the 2007-09 biennium. Contract provisions call for a 3 percent cost-of-living increase for full- time employees effective July 1, 2007, with a minimum raise of $80 per month to help the state’s lowest-paid workers. Employees will get a 3.2 per- cent cost-of-living increase, effective Nov. 1, 2008, with a minimum raise of $85 per month. Full-time public employees will continue to receive employer-paid health care insurance for 2008. In 2009 the state will pay for health in- surance, with a cap on increases set at 12 percent. If the increase in premi- ums is more than 12 percent, employ- ees will be able to use the Public Em- ployee Benefit Board reserves to pay for the excess so employees will have no out-of-pocket costs. “We’ve fought hard in the Legisla- ture to make quality health care af- fordable and accessible for all Orego- nians,” said Cory McIntosh, chair of SEIU’s bargaining team. “This agree- ment shows what can happen when people work together to address the health care crisis.” Union officials said the 6.2 percent in raises over two years is higher than the projected inflation rate and is the highest COLA workers have received in over a decade. The salary scale will be restruc- tured in the second year of the con- tract to boost the pay of the lowest paid workers. Effective Nov. 1, 2008, the lowest paid full-time state worker will earn $1,847 per month, up from the current $1,411. SEIU’s bargaining team is unani- mously recommending ratification of the agreement. Local 503 will hold a bargaining conference July 28, where bargaining delegates will vote to send the agreement to the full membership. The state remains in negotiations with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employ- ees (AFSCME), and other labor unions. Bakers Local 114 cake decorator awarded a U.S. patent Mary Stugelmeyer, a 16-year member of Bakers Local 114, and a cake decorator at the Albertsons store in Keizer, was awarded a U.S. patent for her unique design of an automatically-timed locking pill box with an alarm. The pillbox has been in the works for about 16 years. The idea came to her when a friend kept forgetting to take her medication. The pillbox, she says, will help people remember when they should take their medication. Stugelmeyer applied for the patent last year. It was awarded on April 27, 2007, protecting her design for 14 years. Stugelmeyer is now seeking advice on how to get her pillbox manu- factured. She wants it made in the USA and preferably union made. She is seeking advice as to how to proceed. If you can help, contact Terry Lansing, business manager of Local 114, and he will forward the information to Stugelmeyer. Lansing can be e- mailed at terry@bctgm114.org. AFL-CIO’s Trumka will keynote WSLC convention in August SEATTLE — National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka is scheduled to deliver the keynote ad- dress at the 2007 Convention of the Washington State Labor Council, which begins Thursday, Aug. 16, at 9 Q a.m. at the SeaTac DoubleTree Hotel near the airport. Convention business is expected to be completed by noon Sat- urday, Aug. 18. Under the theme “50 Years of Soli- darity,” the Council will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its formation with the 1957 merger of the Washington Federation of Labor and the Washing- ton Congress of Industrial Organiza- tions Council. Quest Investment Management, Inc. • Serving Multi-Employer Multi-Employer Serving Trusts Twenty Years Trusts for for Over Twenty Years } Cam Johnson Cam Johnson Adrian Hamilton Adrian Hamilton Doug Goebel Doug Goebel Garth Nisbet Greg Sherwood Greg Sherwood Monte Johnson Monte Johnson Bill Zenk Bill Zenk Pat Worley One SW SW Columbia Columbia St., St., Suite Suite 1100, Portland, OR OR 97258 97258 One 1100 Portland, 503-221-0158 503-221-0158 www.QuestInvestment.com www.QuestInvestment.com PAGE 8 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS JULY 20, 2007
