Oregon AFSCME Local 1569, Council 75's newest local representing City of Newberg Public Works employees, has overwhelmingly ratified its first contract.  After a well-orchestrated effort by AFSCME's Organizing Department, the union entered negotiations with the city in September and built a contract from scratch.

The new Local 1569 represents about 30 Newberg workers. Council 75 Staff Representative Justin St. James says highlights of the two-year agreement include:

á        Just cause and a fair grievance procedure, neither of which existed in the city previously.

á        No changes in health care, retirement or deferred compensation plans.

á        The unfreezing of salary steps.

á        COLAs of 2.5 percent for the first year and 2 percent plus a cash bonus in the second year of the contract.

á        Improvements to standby pay, the ability to choose overtime rather than being forced to take compensatory time, and inclement weather pay.

"For a first contract campaign, the local showed enormous solidarity and supported the bargaining team at every turn," said St. James. "Our bargaining team worked incredibly hard to get the local the best possible contract. They were a smart and talented group that spent months negotiating every last article in the new contract, yet they remained positive and focused even during the longest days of bargaining."

In addition to St. James, the Local 1569 Bargaining Team included Mike Conway, Brittney Jeffries, Bryan Jones, Craig Pack, Karen Tarmicheal and Ed Thomas.

St. James also cited Oregon AFSCME Organizers Dan Abernathy and Tyler Woodard for their help during the organizing campaign.

The members of Local 173 (Polk County) made some strong economic gains in a recently settled wage opener in their contract.

Council 75 Staff Representative Justin St. James says local union unity played a key role in successfully bargaining cost-of-living adjustments and other enhancements for its members.

"The local turned out in great numbers throughout the bargaining process to help the bargaining team know how they felt," said St. James. "That display of unity helped move the county's proposals.

"For example, the county told us that increasing salaries for office specialists was off the table at the beginning of bargaining, but we won a two-step increase for all of them," St. James noted. "And having a county-wide COLA again after no increase in the contract's first year will help our members deal with the rising price of gas, food, and day-to-day living."

Economic highlights of the deal include:

• A 1.5 percent COLA

• Members with step increases get to keep them, which was in doubt at the beginning of bargaining.

• The following classifications were increased by either one or two steps, with steps being worth 4 percent — Accounting Technician (2 steps), Appraiser (1 step), Juvenile Administrative Specialist (2), Medical Assistant (1), Medical Clerk (1), Nurse Practitioner (2), Office Specialist (2), Public Health Administrative Specialist (1), Public Works Assistant (1) and WIC Coordinator (1).

The wage opener agreement is for the period running through June 30, 2013. The full contract runs through June 30, 2014. In addition to St. James, the bargaining team included Local 173 President Dustin Breitwieser, Treasurer Wendi Hamilton and Esther Hildebrandt.

Members of the Local 2734 (Tillamook County) sub-local at the City of Rockaway Beach have a new two-year contract. The agreement comes on the heels of a successful recall election earlier this year when AFSCME members joined with a coalition of concerned citizens and city fire department supporters to oust the Rockaway Beach mayor and one city councilor.

Council 75 Staff Representative Evan Wickersham reports employees successfully fought off an effort to double the employee health care premium contribution, ultimately agreeing to a health care status quo. The members covered by the contract will also receive a 2.33 percent raise for each of the contract's two years.

Additionally, the group strengthened contract language around the issues of union orientation, sick leave donation, an increase in money for laundering police uniforms and improved layoff language.

"On that last point, the city now cannot layoff workers while temps or volunteers are doing similar work, nor can they use them while anyone is on layoff status," said Wickersham. "That was a good gain for us."

Local 2734-1 represents about a dozen Rockaway Beach city employees. In addition to Wickersham, the bargaining team included Terri Michel, Luke Shepard and Charlie Stewart.

Members of Local 2936 have a new successor contract with Coos County that goes into effect July 1. It's a two-year deal that runs through June 30, 2014; Local 2936 represents about 105 county workers.

Coos County is one of the Oregon counties hit the most severely by the federal timber payments crisis. Just over 60 percent of the county's landmass consists of federal or state forestland, meaning it won't ever be developed or taxed. For years, Coos and rural Oregon counties like it depended heavily on their share of federal timber receipts to fund a large portion of county government. Changes in economics and environmental rules have curtailed logging as much as 90 percent.

Since 2000, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act provided "county payments" in lieu of the actual timber receipts, but in recent years Congress has been reluctant to reauthorize the act, consistently passing it in the 11^th hour while reducing the payment amounts. The current Congress did not re-up the Secure Rural Schools plan, leaving many counties such as Coos without their federal lifeline. At $1.08 per thousand, Coos County has one of the lowest property tax rates of Oregon's 36 counties. 

Given that scenario, Oregon AFSCME Staff Representative Rodney McCambridge said the county was understandable cautious during bargaining, and unwilling to discuss more than a two-year contract.

"The county wants to see how the local, state and federal elections play out, see where the budgets fall and see if any of the federal money comes back," said McCambridge. "We did what we could, targeting our lowest paid members as best as possible, going with the philosophy that a rising tide raises all boats."

Highlights of the contract include:

• A general wage increase of 70 cents per hour in the first year of the contract. The county was adamant it could not afford a percentage increase, but McCambridge says the 70 cents is significant for lower paid members, some of whom are in the $10-$12 per hour range.

• A flat $50 per month increase from the county on insurance, which McCambridge notes represents "$50 a month in the members' pocket."

• The local did not get a raise in the second year of the contract, but agreed in lieu of an increase to a "me, too" clause relative to other county government unions. McCambridge says Local 2936 had "me, too" protection for many years, gave it up several years ago during tough bargaining and is pleased to get the language back in the contract.

"The clause offers our members some protection should things get better with the federal payments," he said. "Given the overall circumstances, our folks are happy with the deal."

In addition to McCambridge, the Local 2936 Bargaining Team included President Jan Long, Vice President Daniela Kellum and Toni Kirkeby.

Oregon AFSCME Local 2892 and the City of Coos Bay have signed a new four-year contract. The contract is effective June 1 and runs through December 2016.

The agreement covers about 30 union-represented city workers. Council 75 Staff Representative Rodney McCambridge said both sides walked away from the negotiations feeling that the process had worked.

"I think it's fair to say that both the city and the union felt pleased with the final contract, especially given the current economic landscape of not only the City of Coos Bay, but also the county and the state," said McCambridge.

The Coos Bay-North Bend area has long been hard hit by cutbacks by lumber mills and Pacific fishing/shipping, with Coos County being one of the primary Oregon country jurisdictions struggling from the lack of federal timber receipt payments. Those factors, says McCambridge, quickly trickle down to city government in an economically distressed area.

Some highlights of the contract include:

• A first year wage increase of 2.7 percent, up from the city's initial offer of 1 percent and, importantly to the membership, the same increase as city management will receive in the same time period;

• Wage increases in years two through four of the contract between 2 and 5 percent, based on the Consumer Price Index;

• An increase in vacation hours for those with over 300 months (25 years) of service with the city;

• A boot allowance for employees that work in parks and street shops of $175 per year;

• Insurance co-pays to remain the same for the next four years;

• Improved union leave language;

• Reimbursable continuing education money of $750 per fiscal year per employee; and

• A variety of contract language improvements, including a better definition of "immediate family."

In addition to McCambridge, the Local 2892 Bargaining Team included Local President Deb Erler, Jared Anderson, Crystal Barr, Frank Kaiser, Julie Kremers and Lisa Magill.

Attempts to bully Local 2734 in Tillamook County backfired recently, and the end result is that the 118 AFSCME members who work for the county have ratified a new three-year contract.

Council 75 Staff Representative Evan Wickersham said county negotiators opened bargaining earlier this year offering nothing but zeroes and take-backs.

"We had to work our way through a bunch of proposed takeaways, and I really think that was a ploy by the county, hoping to make us happy just to fight back to zero," says Wickersham. "But our team didn't fold, and at some point near mid-negotiations it became clear that the county indeed had some money to put on the table. Ultimately, I think we arrived at a good settlement."

Wickersham and his bargaining team moved the county to a "5 x 5 wage scale," meaning there are now pay increments of 5 percent between steps and 5 percent increments between ranges. This will benefit workers in all circumstances.

"Members will move to the step in the new scale; that is an increase," said Wickersham. "Importantly, nobody goes backwards. The newer you are the better the benefit. Members will reach the top sooner and earn that wage longer. The deal was extremely good for people who have not topped out, but also good for those who have."

The union agreed to move COLA dates from January to July, and locked in increases of 2.5, 2.5 and 1 percent on July 1 of 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. In addition, employees will now receive an extra 2 percent longevity wage-only increase after 10 years of service, and another 2 percent after 15 years.

Local 2734 also gained an increase in the boot allowance for appropriate members, won union orientation time for the first time, gained a higher comp time cap and won language improvements over the issue of reclassifications and related timelines. Management also agreed to a wage comparison study in the third year of the agreement. The county is not obligated to implement the study results, but must report them during the next round of negotiations.

Wickersham said the bargaining team also successfully fought off an increased health premium share, a proposal to allow management to lay off personnel out of seniority order and an effort to remove just cause during promotional probation. Also, the county commissioners sought an article giving them authority to declare a financial "emergency" and use furloughs, hour reductions, COLA rollbacks and unpaid holidays to achieve up to a 5 percent wage reduction; Local 2734 bargainers held firm and the county dropped the proposal.

If the county thought taking such an initial tough stance would damage the union, Wickersham says just the opposite occurred.

"The union increased its strength during the campaign," he said. "They are now energized to continue to grow."

In addition to Wickersham, the union's bargaining team included Local 2734 President Bev Anderson, Roberta Bettis, Kari Fleisher, Jerry Markee, Jessica Moran, Jeanette Steinbach and alternate Carol Laurich.

Oregon AFSCME Local 88, which is Council 75's second-largest local union, has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with Multnomah County. The deal comes on the heels of several months of arduous negotiations with the county.

Economic highlights of the tentative pact include the following:

• Health care premium share rates stay the same for the life of the contract. This was the number one priority for the local, and was a key sticking point in negotiations. Local 88 President Michael Hanna says his team refused to give on this point, and in the end, the union won out. There will also be no health care re-opener, something management pushed for heavily.

• Employees will receive a 1.2 percent COLA in the first year of the contract. There will be no COLA in the second year, but the money saved will fund Local 88-represented positions and step increases will remain intact. In the third year, members will receive a COLA of between 1 and 4 percent, based on the Portland-area Consumer Price Index.

• Overtime and double-time language remains intact.

The local, which represents over 2,800 county workers, will soon begin its contract ratification process. You can read more details about the agreement on the Local 88 website.

By JUSTIN ST. JAMES

Council 75 Staff Representative

Members Oregon AFSCME Local 3786 (City of Forest Grove) volunteered their time recently during a spring service day to officially adopt and clean up the B Street Trail.

After spending a day last fall raking leaves, trimming shrubbery and removing hundreds of pounds of leaves and sticks from the trail area, members of the union decided to officially ask the city if they could adopt the park.

"We did a volunteer day in the fall, just to give back to the community and to spruce up a trail that everyone uses a lot," said Local 3786 President Marvin Vandervelden. "It turns out, we liked it so much that we officially have adopted the park and have informed the city that we will be doing regular cleanings of the trail."

With 50 city employees comprising the City of Forest Grove's union, there are members in nearly every city department and there has been a long history of working together between the city and the union.

"We are happy to volunteer our time to adopt this trail," said Lisa Van Winkle, the Local 3786 Secretary. "A lot of us walk on this path and no one wants to see trash spoiling the beautiful landscape."

Local 3786 members Marcey Ranes, Audra Stoutt, James Reitz, Scott Peters and Melissa Vandecoevering and Sharon Cox from the Forest Grove Fire Department were instrumental in the planning and execution of this successful service day.