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About The Oregon state employee news. (Salem, Oregon) 1959-1969 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1966)
iPöge^Z February, 1966 OREGON STATE EMPLOYEE NEWS OSEA To Present C a s e .. . Collective Bargaining Questions And Answers (Editor’s Note: On February 1, the date that the Civil Service Commission’s collective bargaining rules became effective, the Oregon State Employees Association began to circulate petitions calling for representative elections in 19 major state agencies. In an attempt to create an understanding of the collective bargaining process, Exe cutive Secretary Thomas C. Enright composed answers to the most frequently asked questions about bargaining. They are reprinted below for the information of all OSEA members.) *** Q. What is collective negotiation? A. It is a process by which employees, through an elected representa tive, exercise the right given to them by law to work systematically with th eir employers for improvement of employment conditions. F.m- IJloyers will be required not only to listen to the desires of employees but also to work with their representatives in good faith towards solu tions.: They may not make o r change rules o r discipline employees or take other actions affecting employment relations without firs t consulting with the employee representative. Agreements reached will be made enforceable as contracts and cannot be set aside without further agree ment of the p arties. *** Q. OSEA has been representing us for years — why this process now? •A. F irst, because the legislature has seen fit to pass a law providing fo r collective negotiation in public employment. If we do not use it, the doors will be open for outside groups to do so. But more im portant, we believe it is a step beyond the informal representation process of the past; that personnel administration can be bettered and employment conditions improved through better procedures, to the gain of both the employee and the service. Q. Will collective negotiation bring outside labor practices into state employment? A. Definitely not. OSEA opposed the firs t collective bargaining bills in 1961 and 1963. OSEA supported collective negotiation only when it Could be assured that it would be tailored to public employment and not copy private industry, and that supervision of the procedures would be under Civil Service rather than the bureau which supervises private industry labor m atters. The unions generally refuse to give up the “ right” to strike; OSEA’s constitution prohibits strikes. Q .“ Tf. OSEA is elected representative, will I have to join the associa tion? • ; AFyJto.''Oregon law does not perm it a requirem ent that an employee join any organization to hold a public job. You will probably decide that is. is advantageous to you to belong to OSEA to have a voice in what is decided in your behalf, but you will not be forced to join against your wishes. ; *** Q. Will collective negotiation get us higher salaries? sitoySSiAn :employer cannot agree to pay higher salaries than those Civil Service pay plan. Our work for higher pay will still be through presentations to Civil Service and lobbying the legislature. Collective negotiation will concern itself prim arily with working bonc|itlqps; those m atters where the rules give discretion to the appoint- ing^>tqv^>driiy to do things as he sees fit; and the situations not now covered by rules. Some examples: hours in work week, shiftwork, tran sfer policies, safety practices, m erit rating procedures, coffee breaks, vacations schedules (and many more). *** b . Will collective negotion change our present grievance procedures? ft. Not necessarily. Individual problems will still be handled through .departmental grievance procedures, while collective negotiation will be concerned with m atters which affect employees generally. However, Something which in the past may have been considered an individual grievance may also affect others and can be negotiated without the neces s i t y of having one employee “ stick his neck out” to have it corrected. Your grievance procedure may also be improved through negotiation. *** R. Will collective, negotiation change the functions of OSEA? ft. Only to enlarge them. OSEA will still mainly be concerned with legislative representation; presentation of salary recommendations at Civil Service hearings; representation of employees on classifi cation, pay and other m atters before various agencies; work with Civil Service and Dept. of F and A for better fringe benefits, etc. Collective negotiation will be another tool in OSEA’s representation kit, but it will not replace its present functions. MARION MOTOR HOTEL SPECIAL $6.50 MOTEL RATES ARE ALW AYS AVAILABLE TO STATE EMPLOYEES. MARION MOTOR HOTEL 200 Commercial Street S.E., Salem 363-4123 State Contribution Towards Employee Insurance Sought A state contribution towards the payment of employee medical- hospital insurance premiums will be sought by OSEA p rio r to the time the Civil Service Commission adopts Oregon’s 1967 compensation plan, according to Wage and Salary Analyst Everett B. Stiles. The 1964 OSEA General Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for state participation in the payment of such insurance premiums. As a resu lt of that resolution, Stiles has recently completed a The government contributes about GEORGE A. CONVERSE 12 month research project to de one-third of the premium. B etter than 75% of the private term ine the number of public and firm s contacted in Oregon pro private employers who participate vide a contribution toward the em in the payment of employee medi ployees medical-hospital insur cal-hospital insurance premiums. ance premium, Stiles said. “ The Stiles said the results of the study, which point out the general percentage of contributions ranged practice of employer participation, from those firm s paying 100% (30% will be presented to the commiss of the firm s contacted) to those ion in an attempt to make the state’s paying 40% (which was the mini contribution p art of the overall mum contribution of those p arti cipating).” The firs t student to win an OSEA compensation plan. According to Stiles, one-half of scholarship has recently passed According to Stiles, the prelim his qualifying examinations to inary results of the study show the firm s contacted also paid a wards a doctoral degree in mathe that 22 states contribute a portion percentage of the premiums for matics at the University of Wash of the employees medical-hospital dependent coverage. Three firm s paid the total employee and depend ington. insurance premiums. Four of the George A. Converse was a 17 22, including Oregon’s neighboring ent medical-hospital i n s u r a n c e year old high school senior in state of Idaho, pay the entire premiums. In all cases, Stiles said, the 1959 when he applied for an OSEA amount of the premium. private employers contacted had a scholarship under the newly insti Three of the four states whose tuted p r o g r a m . He won a $600 boundaries join Oregon—Californ minimum of 100 employees. “ Results of this study indicate scholarship—the only one awarded ia, Nevada and Washington—also that year. participate in paying a portion of that the employer who provides employee benefits is no longer the Excellent grades in college help such a plan. progressive crusader. He is m ere ed him win two other association “ Washington’s 1963 Legislature ly following an intelligently es scholarships in 1960 and 1961. authorized that state’s participa tablished trend, ” Stiles said. Each one was worth $150. tion in the payment of m edical- “ Employees tend to gravitate He attended Southern Oregon hospital insurance premiums, but towards the employer offering the College for his firs t two years, did not appropriate the necessary most complete program of fringe Award Winner Close To PhD. and then transferred to Oregon State University where he receiv ed a B.S. degree in 1963. His parents, Mr. and M rs. Al vin Converse, live at 110 Van Ness Avenue, Ashland. His father is a repairm an at Southern O r e g o n College. He has served as P re si dent of Siskiyou Chapter 84 once, V ice-President twice and Delegate to General Council twice in the ten years he has been an OSEA member. His mother teaches English at Ashland Senior High School. M rs. Converse told the NEWS that her son has frequently ex pressed his appreciation for the help and encouragement that his OSEA scholarship gave him. She said the award made it possible for him to go to college without interruption, and also made it possible for him to cut his winter employment to the extent that he could consistently carry full work loads in school. She said he nearly always work ed during the school year and summer vacations to help pay for his college education. “ As George’s mother, I wish to personally thank the OSEA mem bership for making such help and encouragement available to young students through the scholarship program ,” she said. Jobs Reclassified The jobs of two state employees at the Tongue Point Job Corps Center will be reclassified as the result of action by OSEA’s Wage and Salary Analyst Everett B. Stiles. The reclassification will m ean an additional $60 p er month for each worker. The men contacted Stiles in January and claimed they were not classified properly. Stiles investi gated th eir claim and found that a discrepancy existed b e tw e e n men’s job description and the actu al work being performed. Stiles contactedthe Tongue Point Administration and pointed out the discrepancy. The men will be re classified from Laborer Ito Labor funds. However, the 1965 Legis lature authorized the use of a portion of the salary funds f o r medical insurance p r e m i u m s , ” Stiles said. “ Governor Evans has stated that Washington will pay a maximum of $5 p e r employee o r one-half of tiie employees medical insur ance premium p er month, which ever is the le sse r amount.” Stiles said that the federal gov ernment sponsors a health insur ance program for its employees. benefits simply because the exis tance of the benefit p ro g r a m m a k e s it a better place to work. The question is no longer one of whether o r not fringe bene fits will be provided; rather, it is one of which benefits can be install ed at a given tim e. In o rd er for the State of Oregon to be competitive, it m ust estab lish a medical-hospital insurance premium contribution for its em ployees as a p art of the total compensation plan.” WARNE NUNN, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO GOVERNOR MARK O. HATFIELD, addressed members of Capitol Chapter 19 on the Governor's recent trade mission to Europe. Over 50 persons a t tended the February meeting. Seated are Chapter 19 President William LaClair and Vice-President R. L. Reimann. Wives FREE Oct. to M ay Com m ercial men I alw ays w elcom e | "1 (Rate Within State Allotment) P U L V E R ’ S M OTEL No. Riverside Ave. Medford, Oregon Phone 773-6268 ♦ ♦
