PAGE 2 | June 18, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Wages rise $4.96 an hour in new Roofers contract
Members of Portland-based
Roofers and Waterproofers Lo-
cal 49 got a pretty healthy set
of raises in the new contract
that will take effect July 1.
Journeymen wages—which
are currently $36.23 an hour in
the Portland metro area—will
rise $4.96 an hour over three
years: $1.50 July 1, 2021;
$1.65 July 1, 2022; and $1.75
July 1, 2023. Foremen get 10%
to 20% above the journeyman
wage. Apprentices start at 60%
of the journeyman wage and
get raises in regular increments
as they complete 4,000 hours
of on-the-job training to be-
come journeymen. All other
terms remain basically the
same, including $19.23 for
full-family health insurance,
pension, and other fringe ben-
efits. That means as of July 1,
the total package will be
$57.21 an hour.
“Most of our members were
pretty happy with it,” said Lo-
cal 49 business manager Russ
Garnett. Garnett said contrac-
tors initially offered much less,
pointing to the effects of
COVID-19. But union roofers
haven’t seen much if any im-
pact from the pandemic, Gar-
nett said. Aside from a slight
reduction in hours, members
are basically at full employ-
ment right now, particularly on
prevailing wage public works
jobs and big hotel and tech
projects. Garnett said the con-
tract passed pretty easily.
The agreement covers most
of the local’s 650 members
when they work for any of the
12 roofing contractors that
make up the Union Contractors
Group. A separate recent
agreement covers contractors
in the Eugene area; they got a
$2 an hour raise in a one-year
contract that runs to June 1,
2022.
The new agreement runs
through July 2, 2024.
–DM
UNION ROOFERS
ABC Roofing
Anderson Roofing
Arrow Roofing & Sheet Metal
Carlson Roofing
FD Thomas Waterproofing
Garon Roofing & Sheet Metal
Griffith Roofing
McDonald & Wetle
McGilchrist & Sons Roofing
Pacific Roofing
Snyder
Umpqua Roofing
Serious outbreak of wage increases across nursing home industry
Since April, when the Avamere
nursing home chain signed a
breakthrough contract with
Service Employees Interna-
tional Union (SEIU) Local 503
raising starting wages up to $4
an hour, three other Oregon
nursing home chains have
agreed to match those stan-
dards. The life-changing raises
come as signed letters of agree-
ment with Avalon, Prestige, and
EmpRes, all which have cur-
rent union contracts that run
through Sept. 30, 2021.
“It’s really clear why,” said
Local 503 spokesperson Ben
Morris. “They’re having a hard
time hiring across the industry.”
At Avalon, the new $18 an
hour wage floor took effect
June 7 for all certified nursing
assistants and certified medica-
tion aides—a 23% increase in
starting wages. At Prestige, the
new wage floor is also $18 an
hour— for certified nursing as-
sistants, certified medication
aides, and restorative aides. It’s
the single largest one-time pay
increase at Prestige since work-
ers there unionized.
Avalon and Prestige reached
their agreements May 11.
And on May 16 at the Em-
pRes chain, starting wages rose
to $21 an hour for certified
medication aides and $18 an
hour for certified nursing assis-
tants.
Dakavia is the only remain-
ing hold out among unionized
nursing home chains in Ore-
gon.
Nonunion Marquis Compa-
nies has also raised wages.
All told, Local 503 repre-
sents 550 workers at Avamere
nursing homes; 649 workers at
10 Avalon facilities; 882 at 17
Prestige facilities; and 307 at
10 EmpRes facilities.