Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The Oregon public employe. (Salem, Oregon) 1981-???? | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1981)
New BGBB Contracts Maintain Old Benefits CATCH THAT PEPSI SPIRIT BE A PEPPER P e p s l - C o la — D r P e p p e r B o ttlin g C o . 3011 Silverton Rd., N.E., Salem, Oregon Phone 363-9221 THE OTHER PLACE A RESTAURANT & BAR Featuring Choice Steaks, Prim e Rib and Lobster Sunday Dinner 4 p.m. - 9 p.m, QUALITY COMPLETE DINNERS From $5.95410.95 WINE & DINE DINNERS From $7.50-112.50 " W ith generous servings of urine or beer" BANQUETS OUR SPECIALTY Facilities for groups of 25-100/ Private rooms for parties of 10-25 Reservations 5 8 5 -4 4 5 4 2410 Mission, S.E., Salem “LOOK” TO YOUR CREDIT UNION FOR FINANCIAL NEEDS! If you’re not a MEMBER — NOW IS THE TIME TO JOIN! If you are a MEMBER — use your CREDIT UNION for all its worth. No Cost Services Watts Line Notary Public Traveler's Checks Consumer Information New and used R.V. and Auto Guides $5,000.00 Life Insurance on your loan $2,000.00 Term Life Insurance on your share account SAVINGS 4 variety of programs to choose from. LOANS For all productive purposes. ALL STATE EMPLOYEES AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE MEMBERS EACH MEMBER ACCOUNT INSURED TO $100,000. BY ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION. FOR YOUR FINANCIAL NEEDS, CALL YOUR CREDIT UNION. STATE EMPLOYEES CREDIT UNION 1550 State Street Salem, Oregon 97308 585-7084 Outside Salem: 1-800-452-7816 Page 4 Even though insurance companies will be charging much higher rates, benefits provided to state employes by the Bargaining Unit Benefit Board (BUBB) will remain the same or be slightly improved for the 12 months beginning Aug. 1, 1981. By unanimous vote, BUBB Board members chose to continue in surance coverage at present levels w ith the eight companies who presently provide benefits to BUBB. “ While the cost of contracts between BUBB and the insurers will, be higher than last year, the Board is doing everything possible to maxi mize the State's contributions to the program,” said BUBB Chairman Chuck Mendenhall. “The Board could have voted to reduce benefits in order to hold down costs, but they decided not to, because they know employes want to maintain their present benefit levels." BUBB Administrator Cindy Parrish added that staying with the same insurance companies—rather than putting the program up for bids from any interested company—will pro vide long-term savings for employes. “ When an insurance program like ours goes to bid each year, the insurance industry views you as a group that cannot be counted on for contract renewal,” she said. “This contract continuity results in lower costs for the program and higher returns for the insurance companies." Parrish also pointed out that should BUBB ever feel it necessary to ask for By contrast, the State Employees Benefit Board (SEBB), which pro vides insurance to another group of state employes, only received a bid from one company this year. Sources in the insurance industry say this is largely due to their policy of asking for industry-wide bids each year. These sources say that one reason companies are reluctant to bid on insurance programs that do not maintain their, continuity, is that responding to bid requests from groups the size of BUBB and SEBB costs approximately $40,000. Improved benefits will be received by state employes enrolled in BUBB’s Oregon Dental Service (ODS), Selectcare, Kaiser Foundation and Klamath Medical Services Bureau (KMSB) programs. Coverage on basic dental services will increase from 80 percent to 90 percent for all employes who are enrolled in ODS and who visited the dentist prior to Aug.' 1, 1981. Employes who are enrolled in the Kaiser Foundation will have the option to add dependent dental coverage under the new contract and employes enrolled in KMSB will have the option to increase dependent dental coverage from present levels. Employes enrolled in Selectcare will have a percentage of their prescription drugs paid for under the new contract. Coverage will remain the same for employes enrolled in Capitol Health Care (CHC), Continental National in d u stry-w id e bids, it is m uch m ore Assurance likely to receive bids from a wide range of companies because it has maintained this program continuity. nance of Oregon, Inc. (HMO) and Physicians Association of Clackamas County (PACC). (CN A). H ealth M ainte W alkout. . . continued from page 1 Labor Relations Division admini strator, told the Oregonian, that "as far as the State is concerned, there will be no contract after the existing one expires June 30.” “We will start from zero," he said. “This means the State and the union (OPEU) will have to rehash every benefit contained in the old contract. And the State will not give back some of those benefits because it needs to save money." The May 28 walkout was preceded by a show of support from over 100 OPEU members who crowded into the small room where mediation was in process. Approximately 80 mem bers packed the room four rows deep behind the OPEU side of the negotiating table. Members who could not get into the room stood by outside windows on the union side of the room and pressed placards against the win dows. The State refused to negotiate with the large number of employes in the room, saying that it was against fire codes to have so many people in the room. Hearing these objections, some employes immediately called to reserve an auditorium within walking distance. Talks resumed within an hour, but lasted for less than an hour before OPEU walked out. The revised economic package that OPEU offered the State calls for a $100 salary increase for all employes in the first year of the new contract. In the second year of the contract, employes would receive quarterly cost of living adjustments (COLA). These COLAs would be a maximum of three percent each quarter and a minimum of 10 percent for the year. In adition, OPEU asked for selec tive salary adjustm ents to ta lin g between $5 million and $6 million dollars. This is a major compromise from OPEU’s original position. Originally, OPEU asked the State for $100, plus a five percent wage increase for all employes in the first year of the new contract. For the second year, OPEU proposed an uncapped COLA that would pay a minimum of eight percent. Selective salary adjustments in this first proposal totaled approximately $25 million. The factfinding process will be a long one. A fact finder must be agreed upon by both OPEU and the State by June 8. It is then up to the fact finder to schedule the factfinding hearing— probably the end of June. The hearing itself should take approximately a week. Thirty days after the hearing, the fact finder is required to issue recommendations for settlement on all proposals that were presented in the factfinding hearing. Dale estimated that approximately 40 proposals will be reviewed in the hearing and that it will take the fact finder the full 30 days to issue a report.
