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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2019)
nortHWeSt labor preSS | September 20, 2019 | page 3 Homecare workers get retirement, harassment policy in new contract 30,000 workers will get $15 an hour under the new contract. by don Mcintosh About 30,000 Oregon home care workers will get $15 an hour and protections against on- the-job sexual harassment in their new two-year union con- tract. Service Employees Inter- national Union (SEIU) Local 503 and the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) reached tentative agreement Sept. 4 on the terms of the deal. The contract covers workers employed through the state’s home care registry who provide in-home care for senior and dis- abled individuals, whether paid privately or through Medicaid. Under the new contract, worker base pay will rise 35 cents an hour (2.4%), on Jan. 1, 2020, to $15 an hour. In the sec- ond year of the agreement, workers expect to gain access to a retirement savings plan for the first time: DHS and the gover- nor have committed to seek leg- islative approval for a 5% wage increase that would be deposited into individual accounts in the state-sponsored retirement sav- ings plan OregonSaves. If they choose to, workers would be al- lowed to put some or all of the increase into wages instead. “What we’re trying to do is stabilize the workforce,” says Local 503 spokesperson Ben Morris. “As the baby boomers start to age into needing long- term care, we really want a sta- ble work force. And a retirement plan connected to the job makes people see the value of staying long term.” Meanwhile, Local 503 says the sexual harassment policy is a first-in-the-nation for home care workers. The new contract sets up a process for reporting inappropriate behavior to DHS. Workers reporting harassment will continue to get paid while DHS investigates, but won’t have to go back into the home in question. DHS must determine that the home is safe before other home care workers are al- lowed back into the home. “We’ve already gotten calls from other SEIU locals around the country who say this is a great idea and they want to do something similar,” Morris said. Morris says improved wages and working conditions are ben- efiting not just home care work- ers but their clients. Since 2001, when state-paid home care workers settled their first union contract, annual employee turnover has fallen from 50% to 27%. “Turnover is so important in long term care that it’s often used as a stand-in for quality,” Morris said, “so we want to get that as far down as we can.” A ratification vote among home care workers is under way and will wrap up by Oct. 1. Workers at oHSU ratify new deal after managers outed for trolling Over 6,000 workers will get $1,000 bonuses and raises total- ing 9.5% in new three-year deal. Nearly 7,000 employees of Ore- gon Health and Science Univer- sity (OHSU) will get raises and other improvements in their new three-year union contract. AF- SCME Local 328 reported that members ratified the new agree- ment by a margin of 98.9% in votes counted Sept. 9. Under its terms, they’ll get a lump sum bonus payment of $1,000 and an across-the-board raise of 3.25% now, plus 3% raises on July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021. Workers will also get an extra 50 cents an hour for weekend work and $1 an hour for training co-workers. The contract also provides an additional vacation day each year; annual TriMet passes for $50 a year; and allows for addi- tional stewards to cover even- ing/night shifts and large depart- ments. OHSU also agreed to contribute $100,000 a year to an employee hardship fund man- aged by the union that can pro- vide relief to employees for needs related to food, trans- portation, housing insecurity or education. Though the contract signifies labor peace, Local 328 is still going forward with a legal case against OHSU: In an unfair la- bor practice charge filed Aug. 8 with the Oregon Employment Relations Board, Local 328 says OHSU violated its duty to bar- gain in good faith when HR vice president Daniel Forbes and fel- low management bargaining team member Patrick Frengle used fake Twitter and Facebook accounts to pose as employees in an effort to undermine the union on social media. A hear- ing on the case is scheduled for Oct. 1.
