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
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