Bargaining Update - 2.10.26

Ready to strike?

We need supporters to fill out the RWU Strike Line Signup Form for February 18th!

RWU’s bargaining team met with OHSU management today for our first mediated bargaining session following the delivery of our strike notice last week. While we hoped the current strike threat would have led upper management to authorize additional movement in their current position, we were disappointed to learn that no such movement would be forthcoming.

We took this opportunity to seek some additional clarification on how OHSU intends to implement their current proposed wage increases and then began working on a counter proposal of our own, which was submitted to OHSU’s leadership early in the afternoon.

OHSU’s management seems to have heard our concerns about the need to uplift our lowest paid members, and those proposed changes are recognized and appreciated. However, the bargaining team remains concerned that the current offer would leave out many researchers with wages in the bottom half of our unit who may still struggle to make ends meet, and fail to fairly compensate all researchers with wage increases that adequately outpace inflation.

To address these concerns, the bargaining team’s counter proposal returned to an earlier model that includes a progressive wage increase in Year 1 of the contract, and reduces the across the board increases in Years 2 & 3, as follows:

Year 1, the greater of:

• A percent increase ranging from 4.5% to 6% (depending on classification grade)
• An hourly increase of $1.25
• A minimum wage of $23.18

Years 2 & 3, the greater of:

• A 4.75% increase
• An hourly increase of $1.00
• A minimum wage of $23.84 (Year 2) and $24.09 (Year 3)

This proposal aligns with our original position that we are seeking the largest pay increases for our lowest paid members, but casts a wider net for which researchers could benefit from those increases. It also represents a considerable reduction in the wage increases proposed in our last offer. You can view our current comparisons here.

RWU’s bargaining team continues to negotiate in good faith with the hope of avoiding a strike. If management is unwilling to negotiate a fair contract with us, other labor unions in Portland will be there to support us on the strike line. We urge OHSU’s management to seriously consider this offer, and come to our next bargaining session prepared to talk seriously about fair wage increases for all researchers.

Strike Town Halls:

• Virtual option - Wednesday, February 11th from 12pm-1pm (Meeting link: bit.ly/RWUStrikePrep)
• In-person option - Thursday, February 12th from 5pm-6:30pm at the Old Library Auditorium (RSVP link here)

In solidarity,

Your RWU bargaining team:

Lynne Swarbrick

Wes Horton

Lillian Raley

Victoria Halls

Caitlin Burbank

Anna Levy

Cort Cox

Henry Harrison