Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The OSEA news. (Salem, Oregon) 1970-1981 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1970)
A member of the Association o i Governmental Employees (AGE), which includes over 500,000 public employees <0SEA*few M VOLUME XII ■ ■ The monthly publication of the Oregon State Employes Association JANUARY, 1970 NUMBER 1 Plan to Contract Food Services Hit by Lawsuit OSEA has filed a lawsuit seeking a permanent induction to prevent the University of O re g o n M e d ica l S ch o o l complex from contracting its food services to a private firm . The s u it, file d in Multnomah County Circuit Court, lists the Medical and D e n ta l S c h o o ls , th e D e p a rtm e n t o f G eneral Services and the Board of H ig h e r E d u c a t io n as defendants. In la te November the agency invited private firms to b id for the food service o p e ra tio n at the Medical School and Tuberculosis hospi tals, and the Medical and Dental School cafeterias. An unknown number of firms already have submitted bids. The contract is scheduled to be awarded Jan. 5. The bid specification calls for the con tractor to begin operation Feb. 1. Besides asking for an in junction, the suit asks fo r a judgment declaring the pro posed contract invalid fo r the following reasons: (1) The defendants do not have the. authority to contract food services to be performed by other Than merit system employees. (2) Management and super v is io n o f m e rit system employees by a private firm operating for p ro fit would be illegal. (3) Termination of merit system employees fo r failing to meet the standards of a private contractor would be illegal. About 127 employees work in the four food service locations, Apparently some non-super- visory employees would con tinue on the state's payroll, at least for a time. But that might n o t be true of supervisory personnel, however. " A l l current non-super- visory dietary and cafeteria employees employed by the Medical School w ill continue on the Medical School payroll w hen th e b id d e r begins service," the bid specification says. But it also says, "The con tractor w ill not be required to retain those who do not meet his standards, nor those in excess of the number required for efficient operation." That statement is qualified by the words, "b u t he (contractor) w ill be subject to the rules and regulations of the Oregon E x e c u t iv e D e p a rtm e n t, Personnel Division." " A t his (contractor) dis c r e t io n , he may o ffe r employment to the present s u p e rv is o ry fo o d service employees of the Medical School," the specification says. Judge Dean Bryson has set Jan. 28 as the time when de fendants are to appear to show cause why a temporary in ju n c tio n s h o u ld not be ordered. McGoffin to Head R e tire m e n t S y s te m James L. McGoffin has been named executive secretary of O re g o n 's 8 0 ,0 0 0 -m e m b e r Public Employees' Retirement System. He begins his new job F e b .1. McGoffin, 42, has been as s is ta n t d ir e c to r o f th e Washington PERS fo r the past six years. It is similar in size to Oregon's system. Prior to that he was trust administrator and executive secretary of the Washington State Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry fo r six years. He also worked fo r the State of Washington attorney general one year, the Pierce County prosecuting attorney's o ff ic e tw o years and. N o rth w e s te rn Mutual In surance Company in Seattle three years. He is a graduate of the S ch o o l of Law, Gonzaga University, and has taken graduate courses in investment and securities analysis at the University of California in Berkeley. " I expect McGoffin to bring to the Oregon Retirement system a capability that w ill greatly assist the board in the promotion of continued im provement of the system," i ce i A iA fn iiT *-'ke everything else, filing a lawsuit costs money. John S. Irvin, OSEA OSEA FILES LAWSUIT staff attorney, had to pay a $20 fee to Martha Surbaugh, cashier for Multnomah County's Department of Judicial Administration, as the first step in filing OSEA's lawsuit against the University of Oregon Medical School. JAMES L. McGOFFIN New PERS Chief PERS B o a rd C h a irm a n Chalmers L. Jones said in announcing his appointment. The position has been vacant since the death last fall of Max M. Manchester, who held the job fo r many years. McGoffin's appointment culm i nated a two-month, search by the PERB and a committee it appointed to recruit and screen job applicants. OSEA Execu tiv e Secretary Thomas C. Enright served as a member of the committee. ' Inside This Issue Employee of toe Year awafds given to 2® state workers by OSEA* Story «« page 2. ' OSEA asks State Hospital to pay five employees 2,144 boors w back overtime. Story on page X , B w 's top stories from past 12 issues of the NE WS appear w headline review on pages S*&-7-&, Six employees asked if they plan to invest PERS eontribotrons io stock m arket. Answers on page 9. 05£4 Says Increased Living Costs ju s tify One-Step Salary Increases OSEA has asked that all of the state's classified and non- a c a d e m ic u n c l a s s if ie d employees be given a one-step "cost of liv in g " pay raise July 1. The a s s o c ia tio n says employees need the wage hike to keep pace w ith increased costs o f living which have re suited from inflation during the past year. The 1969 Legislature ap propriated $4.1 m illion to the Emergency Board for mid biennium salary increases. If released, the money would be used by general fund agencies for pay raises. Dedicated fund agencies already have the necessary money, but need authorization to spend it. "We are sure that you need not be reminded that inflation during the past year has re sulted in increased costs of living which make a salary in crease of at least five per cent necessary fo r employees to keep pace," Executive Secre tary Thomas C. Enright said in a letter to Gov. Tom McCall. "We trust you w ill also agree that all of the funds a p p ro p ria te d f o r sa la ry adjustments by the legislature s h o u ld be used for this purpose, not retained fo r the p o s s ib ility of an end-of- biennium deficit which may or may not materialize," Enright said. He pointed out that failure t o ' use the funds would only increase salary demands upon the 1970 Legislature. Enright told McCall that OSEA's recent General Council adopted a resolution calling fo r use o f the salary fund in the form of a one-step or five per cent pay raise for all employees on July 1. " A main purpose of the resolution was to express the desire of state employees that adjustments be on an 'across the board' or 'cost o f living' rather than a selective basis," Enright noted. ''L a r g e r , s e le c t iv e adjustments fo r some would mean no adjustments for others," he said. Mid-biennium adjustments in recent years which gave sub stantial increases to some while others were denied, seriously damaged employee morale, Enright asserted. "The denial o f adjustments were explainable at those times on the basis of inadequate funding; they could not be justified this year in light o f th e a m o u n t o f fu n d s available,** tie declared.
