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About The OSEA news. (Salem, Oregon) 1970-1981 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1970)
$61.8 Million for Employes In McCall Budget Gov. Tom McCall's budget for the 1971-73 biennium in cludes $61.8 m illion for state employe pay raises and Initiation of a major new fringe benefit program. That fig u re includes $45 million for classified and un classified employe pay raises; $13.2 m illio n fo r academ ic employe salary hikes; and $3.6 million for a $10 monthly contribution to employe medical-hospital-surgical in surance. M cCall said a revised classified employe pay plan has been developed fo r con sideration by the 1971 Legislature. It was developed in accordance with legislative direction received from the 1969 session, he noted. "The new plan has been designed to integrate both the concepts of m erit increases and lo n g e v it y p a y —w it h o u t sacrificing the usefulness of either as a management tool or as incentives to employes," McCall said. Im plem entation of the r e v is e d pay p la n w ill pay for meritorious service, will be implemented on July 1, 1972, if adopted by the Legislature. of prior salary adjustment plans, the actual rates of pay received by an employe w ill vary by the salary survey data "Thus, rather than automatic step-to-step sa la ry ad justments, which may have characterized some elements He noted that the Personnel Division is currently preparing a new method of performance evaluation. It w ill be available for review by the 1971 session "so that maintenance of the m erit pay concept w ill be assured." Details of the now pay plan have not yet been made public. The governor's budget calls for a $10 monthly contribution to employe medical-hospital- surgical insurance. It w ill not s ta rt u ntil J u ly 1, 1972, however. Details of that plan have not been released either. McCall said he w ill seek authority from the Legislature to let state agencies pay em ployes more often than once a month. "A survey of employe satisfaction with the present o n c e -a -m o n th p a y r o ll regulation has indicated ' an in t e r e s t In a more f l e x i b l e r e q u ir e two phases: The first, to take place on July 1, 197Î, w ill "m erge-the present compensation plan with its 45 six-step salary ranges into a new 25 five-step salary rangé fram ework." for his class, his length of service and the em ploye's a b ility to dem onstrate m eritoriou s p e rfo rm a n ce ," McCall said of the new pay plan. p ro ce ss," he said. | its Becoming a Reality flsCA*» n«w headquarters building, as seeft in a sketch by the architectural firm of Payne and Set- tecase, is becoming less of a dream and more of a reality as the months pass. Architects are now The second phase, which features longevity pay fo r length of service and incentive In his budget, McCall asked for an additional 2,803 state employes d uring the next biennium . There are now 30,776. The biggest addition of workers would be in the Public Welfare Division, which would . get 913 added to its staff. OSEA Members Get $125,000 Insurance Refund " I t was just like getting an early visit from Santa Claus." That's the way one OSEA member described it when he got his share of a huge $125,000 cash dividend of accumulated insurance premiums. The money was divided among some 6,300 OSEA members who were insured under the OSEA-Standard life and income protection group insurance plans from July 1, 1969 through June 30, 1970. This is the second straight year that the association has r e tu r n e d a c c u m u la te d premiums to members of an insurance plan; L a s t.y e a r, some 5,500 members insured under the OSEA-Standard life insurance group plan split a Welfare Goof Delays Bargaining Election Failure of the Public Welfare Division to give the Public Employe Relations Board the names of 54 of Its employes has delayed the collective bargaining election between OSEA and an AFL-CIO union for the big PDW unit, Just before the ballots were due to be counted earlier this month, the PWD personnel office notified the PERB that the names of 54 employes eligible to vote in the election had been left off the original ballot listing prepared by the agency. M elvin H. Cleveland, executive se cre tary of the PERB, said the election would be continued until the 54 ballots have been mailed to the em ployes and returned to the board» The new date Set" for ballots to be returned is Dee. 18.. They w ill be counted on Dec. 21. Cleveland said about 87 per cent of the ballots have been returned; He said th a t is "extrem ely high." OSEA has represented the 1,800 m em ber co llective bargaining unit since 1966. It is being challenged as bargaining agent for the group by Council 75 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employes. $72,000 refund. The dividend was made possible because of the "e x cellent claims experience" of the two group plans during 1969-70, according to OSEA Insurance D ire ctor Jack Dan ley s " It's really quite sim ple," he said. "F e w e r people died during that tim e and, as a result, the money paid in premiums accumulated. We simply decided to return it to those who have been paying for the insurance." The share returned to each in d ivid u a l is equivalent to about 21 per cent of his annual premium, or the cost of his insurance for a 2’/2 month period, Danley noted. Amounts that were refunded ranged from a high of $130 to a low of $1. The amount each individual received depended upon the cost of his monthly premium and the length of tim e he was insured during the year. "The higher the premium and length of time.an individual was insured, the higher his refund, and v ic e -v e rs a ," Danley said. The decision to refund the money was' made by.OSEA's Board of Directors earlier this year. Instead of refunding the money, OSEA could have held it in reserve to pay future in surance claims, Danley ex plained. However, the Board of Directors felt there are suf ficient reserve funds, to protect the premium rate structure against future loss due to ad verse claims and voted to return the money, he said. Donald Beninger Dies a t Home Donald A. Beninger, a .member of OSEA's staff for nearly five years, died in his home on Nov. 13. He was 32. Beninger began work for the association in March, 1966, as its f ir s t in s titu tio n a l fie ld representative. E a rlie r th is « year he was promoted to field representative supervisor. Prior to joining the OSEA staff, Beninger was employed as a maintenance repairman at Fairview Hospital and Training Center. He was an electrician. An active member of OSEA long before joining its staff, Beninger was well-known throughout the association for his work in the areas of m em bership and employe grievances. He enrolled 236 members into OSEA during a four year period. While employed at the Salem in s titu tio n , Beninger was president of OSEA's Fairview Chapter 57 two years, assistant director of D istrict Nine one year and delegate to General. Council fiye years. He joined the association upon entering State Service, in 1958. After joining the OSEA staff, Beninger became w ide ly known for his work in the fields of collective bargaining and em ploye grievances; His knowledge and ability in those areas were recognized throughout Oregon state government. He is survived by his widow, Evelyn, and four children: Joe, 13; Donna, 11; Daniel, 9; and Brian, 8.
