PAGE 4 | October 5, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
AFSCME #2975 declares impasse at City of Corvallis
Facing cuts to health care,
members of AFSCME Local
2975 employed at the City of
Corvallis voted overwhelmingly
Sept. 26, to authorize their bar-
gaining team to call a strike if
needed. The following day, the
union’s bargaining team declared
impasse.
The steps were taken follow-
ing months of bargaining, which
resulted in an expired contract
and proposed health care cuts.
The union said that among the
cuts, the City is proposing elimi-
nating a yearly medical stipend
of $1,000 for families, potentially
making health care unaffordable,
especially for the City’s lowest-
paid workers. Some workers
would actually see a cut in over-
all take home compensation un-
der the City’s proposal, the union
said.
Local 2975 represents over
220 City employees.
“Every day our members
come to work to improve our
community because we care and
we love our jobs. Our members
do not want to strike, but we are
facing cuts to our health care and
we have to take a stand not just
for ourselves but for this commu-
nity. The City administration is
pushing ideological cuts to our
health care that don’t make fiscal
sense. We are talking about a fi-
nancial difference between man-
agement and our union of less
than 0.1 percent of the City’s an-
nual budget,” said Local 2975
President Carlos Lopez.
Negotiations started in Febru-
ary 2018. According to Local
2975, on the first day of negotia-
tions, management demanded
ground rules that did not allow
the union’s bargaining team to
communicate with the public,
press, or city counselors.
“From the moment we saw
their ground rules for negotia-
tions we knew this would be a
tough bargaining year,” aid Local
2975 Vice President Natalie
Summerlin.
No additional bargaining had
been scheduled at press time, nor
had a strike date been set.
Loretta Smith supports Labor.
And thanks to all of our friends from Labor
who support her:
Northwest Oregon Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council
UFCW Local 555
IBEW Local 48
Operating Engineers Local 701
NW Regional Council of Carpenters
Teamsters District Council 37
Ironworkers Local 29
Painters & Allied Trades District Council 5
Heat & Frost Insulators Local 36
...and so many more
Authorized and paid by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Portland, Oregon