VOLUME XXIII, NUMBER 1
FEBRUARY 1981
Local 503 o f th e S ervice Em ployes In te rn a tio n a l U nion, AFL-CIO, CLC
United front surprises state
Parking conflict increases
Apparently, the Department
of General Services will try to
diffuse state employes’ militant
response to new parking rules
by delaying implementation of
increased fees in outlying
areas.
A 100 percent increase in
parking fees went into effect
Feb. 1 for employes working in
downtown Eugene, Salem and
Portland. But a General Ser
vices spokesperson said that
“it will take us several months
to implement (the parking
fees) in outlying areas.”
“This is an obvious effort by
General Services to break the
united front state employes
have shown over this issue,”
said Chuck Mendenhall, OSEA
government relations director.
“By staggering the implemen
tation date, they are hoping to
isolate employe outrage to one
work unit at a time.”
Concern at General Service
follows the overwhelming
response against the increased
parking fees at three public
hearings on Jan. 21 and 22.
Testimony at a Jan. 21 hear
ing in Salem, before an over
flow crowd of more than 250
was pointed and emotional.
“How can the state charge
the going rate for parking and
pay less than the going rate for
salarie s?”
asked
P erry
Crosley, a Highway Division
employe.
“These new rules are nothing
less than a tax on state em
ployes,” said Don Murry, an
employe at OSCI. “I strongly
object to it, because it will be a
tax that is assessed without
approval by the people.”
Generally speaking, the new
rules establish parking fees for
all state agencies, except
higher education, which sets its
own fees. It is up to individual
agencies to show that any of its
lots should be exempt from the
new rules.
The rules are an attempt to
conform to a 1977 law which is
intended to encourage alter
native modes of transportation,
reduce traffic congestion and
provide the state with a
“ reasonable retu rn ”
on
property set aside for parking
for state employes. State legis
lators, who are provided park
ing space beneath the Capitol
Building, exempted themselves
from the fees.
Most parking lots used for
state employes are being
divided into two categories.
Some lots, notably those in
downtown Portland, Salem and
Eugene, have been declared to
be adequately served by mass
transportation. A minimum
monthly fee of $20 per month, a
100 percent increase, has been
established for those lots for
day users.
The vast majority of state
operated lots fall into a second
category which, being inad
equately served by mass
transit, have had a minimum
fee of $10 established.
Discounted fees previously
granted to workers who partici
pate in carpools have also been
increased by 100 percent.
General Services Director
Darrell Ralls had the option to
delay implementation if he
found administration of the
rule to be out of context of the
law.
Instead, fees in downtown
Portland, Salem and Eugene
went into effect Feb. 1 and a
General Services spokesperson
said, “My true feeling is that
most outlying areas will only
be charged $10 for parking.”
However, events seem to
indicate that legislators’ desire
to reduce employe traffic has
been met. “A recent survey in
Salem shows that upwards of 75
percent of state employes are
OSEA opposes fee payment
OSEA Executive Director
Thomas Gallagher, in a news
conference scheduled for Feb.
2, will announce that OSEA
suggests that state employes
refuse to pay the new parking
increase of $20 in protest of “a
pay increase in disguise.”
“In a time of rising costs,
decreasing real income, a
lagging state pay schedule
and an unrealistic six percent
pay-increase proposal, it is
ironic that the state employe
also faces an increase in
p a r k in g
f e e s ,”
s a id
Gallagher.
“ With the legislature
currently in session, OSEA is
seeking legislative action to
change the inequities of a
blanket parking policy. We
propose that General Services
cease implementation of the
rule change and work jointly
with OSEA to formulate a
more realistic statute to
ad d re ss
th e p a r k in g
dilemma,” Gallagher ex
plained.
“State employes should
voice their dissatisfaction
with the policy and refuse to
pay. I can’t imagine General
Services trying to tow away
thousands of cars.”
now participating in mass
transit or carpool programs,”
Chuck Mendenhall, OSEA
government relations director,
told the Salem hearing. “I’m
confident that even higher per
centages are true in the
congested areas of Portland.
“If I were a skeptic I might
look at the revenue side of this
issue and note that projected
receipts from these new fees
are purported to be $769,296 for
the 1981-83 biennium.”
In concluding his testimony,
Mendenhall proposed that
General Services cease im
plementation of the rule
changes and work jointly with
OSEA “to help formulate a
more realistic statute to ad
dress the parking dilemma.”
After the hearing Menden
hall told reporters that the rule
discriminates against single
mothers who need their cars to
ferry pre-schoolers to and from
day care and against clerks,
who make less than $700 a
month, because the fee excedes
these clerks’ .cost of living
raises.
Mendenhall warned that
state employes are ready to
take a stand on this issue. “We
have put together the organi
zation needed to fight this rule;
these hearings are only the
beginning of the battle if the
rule is implemented on Feb. 1.”