$65 Million and Not a Penny More

Legislative Leaders Clarify Savings Needed from Workers

The two chief legislative leaders have written to Governor Kulongoski and the union affirming the intent of a legislative budget note stating that savings from changes to state employee compensation do not need to total more than $65 million.

Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Dave Hunt weighed in after the governor’s staff questioned whether the figure includes scheduled step increases. Their letter seems to put the issue to rest, though the legislature cannot compel the governor to offer workers a fair contract.

“The budget note, now clarified by the leaders, provides a road map to a fair settlement,” the SEIU bargaining team told members in an email alert following two more days of bargaining July 6-7.

“The State's latest proposal would cut workers' pay by almost twice the amount specified by the legislature, while our current proposal would save about $35 million. We have said that if the Governor accepts the $65 million number of the budget we will do so as well, even though that would require significant sacrifice from all state workers. If the Governor accepts the legislature’s numbers, that would leave only the details to be ironed out.”

The team reported “some modest headway in bargaining” around furlough implementation:

“We have reached a tentative agreement on the framework of how furlough days will be implemented. We won contract language that requires furlough time to be counted as time worked for the purposes of accruals and insurance benefits, for it to be pro-rated for part-time and seasonal workers and for the day after Thanksgiving to be an office closure day for those agencies that implement the furlough process by closing entire offices.

“In part because the law does not require management to bargain over scheduling, we did not prevail on our proposal that workers have a voice in whether furloughs are scheduled through office closures or on a floating basis; instead, management will make that choice.  Most, though not all, programs and agencies will use the office closure system.  

“And despite eloquent pleas by bargaining team members, management rejected our proposal that they reconsider whether furloughs make sense for programs not funded by the General Fund, since furloughs in those programs do not save any money for the State.

“The biggest issues around furloughs — how many and whether the very lowest paid workers (those who earn less than $30,000 a year) have fewer furlough days than the rest of state workers — remain unresolved.  Crucially, the question of protecting our steps also remains unresolved.  And that is why the latest development away from bargaining is very important.”

Negotiations resume July 13-14.

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