Central Table Update 7/22/09
The pressure we're putting on the Governor is having a real effect. We are not there yet, but we are pleased to report the most significant movement on economic issues since central bargaining began.
On steps, in response to our worksite actions, phone calls to the governor, and demonstrations across Oregon, the State has finally blinked. Instead of a two-year step freeze, DAS negotiators proposed a one-year step freeze, from 9/1/09 to 8/31/10. After that date, regular step increases — including the new tenth step — would resume. Under the State's proposal, employees who get step increases in July and August of 2009 would have those steps rolled back on 9/1/09, then restored on 9/1/10. The bottom line is that under the State's new proposal, all employees, including those currently topped out, would receive one step during the two-year contract. While clearly not as appealing as keeping both steps, this proposal represents a major advance in bargaining.
On furloughs, the State's new proposal includes two scenarios depending on how much money Oregon has in its reserve accounts at the start of the second year. In the better case, we would taker 10, 12 or 14 unpaid days over two years depending on pay level, with most members in the latter two categories. In the worse case, the number of furlough days would rise to 10, 16 and 18 depending on pay level. This is a significant improvement over the State's previous proposal, which would have required some workers to take as many as 22 unpaid furlough days.
In response, our SEIU bargaining team stressed two goals. We said we would agree to a one-year step freeze, provided that everyone who loses a step during that freeze gets an extra step on June 1, 2011, one month before the contract ends. In an effort to compromise, we also increased the number of unpaid furlough days in our proposal to eight or 12 days, depending on pay levels, but without any linkage to the condition of the State's reserve accounts.
Through the mediator, the State informed us that it intends to declare impasse this week, probably on Wednesday. This declaration comes not because the two sides are really at an impasse — clearly we aren't — but as a ploy to restart the clock on the Governor's ability to abandon bargaining and dictate terms of a settlement by imposing his final offer.
While we are encouraged that the State's latest offer represents real progress, it still falls short of our goals. We will continue to push for a contract that protects steps and minimizes furlough days to the greatest possible extent.
To make that happen, we must keep the pressure on, calling the Governor's office at 503.378.4582, distributing postcards to family members and friends to mail, and planning our massive statewide day of informational picketing on Wednesday, August 5.
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