OREGON AFSCME

e-lert #7  ¥  May 26, 2010

Edited by Don Loving, Council 75 Public Affairs Director

 

AFSCME says "No thank you," albeit somewhat less politely, to a request from the guv ... Some good news for some of our PERS Tier 1 members and some PERS retirees ... By-and-large, being a Council 75-endorsed candidate was a very good thing last week ... and, as always, more! It's the e-lert, and you can start right now!

 

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A STRONG MESSAGE — As you undoubtedly heard yesterday (May 25), the state faces more budget woes as the latest revenue forecast once again doesn't look good. But Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Ken Allen has a two-word answer for Gov. Ted Kulongoski's request that the current contract be re-opened to discuss further economic concesions:

 

"Hell no!"

 

Again, as you saw and heard in the mainstream media, the May 25 state revenue forecast contained worse-than-expected budget news for the state. The general consensus in recent weeks was that the forecast would show revenues down about $200 million for the rest of fiscal year 2009-11, which ends June 30, 2011. But the new estimate anticipates a shortfall of some $563 million for this biennium, necessitating a further round of state budget cuts.

 

Kulongoski, at a capitol press conference immediately after the revenue forecast was released, said he would order state agencies to reduce their budgets by 9 percent. He also said the budget crisis requires "swift and decisive action," and stressed that he believes the cuts are best left up to him and his staff. In that regard, Kulongoski pointedly said he would not call the Legislature into a special session, though he noted that body does have the ability to call itself into session. Later in the day Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) dismissed the idea of calling a special session for the budget, though at the same press event House Speaker Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) did not entirely rule out such a possibility.

 

Kulongoski outlined several options for cutting back; agency heads are to report potential savings to him within two weeks. He cautioned the public these cuts could well mean layoffs, reduced work weeks and/or more furlough days.

 

The governor also announced that a pay freeze for executive and unrepresented state workers would be extended through June 2011, and he asked the state's public employee unions — SEIU and AFSCME being by far the largest two — to agree to the same extended pay freezes. In particular, both unions have clauses in their contracts that would see step increases "unfrozen" in September. Kulongoski now wants to re-open the contracts in an effort to gain concessions from the unions that would total $19.9 million in General Fund savings — the proposal that led to Allen's comments.

 

"We are not interested in re-opening our contract," said Allen. "One, a contract is a contract. I know our members understand that, and I think the public does, too.

 

"Two, and moreover, it's time for state management service to share the pain of the state's economy," Allen continued. "The state keeps talking to us about 'shared sacrifices,' but we've already sacrificed several times over. We represent the front-line workers who actually do the state's work. Any further cuts to state employees should be focused on management staff that do not provide direct services to the public."

 

Allen, Council 75 Staff Representatives and other staff and the Oregon AFSCME Central Bargaining Team will reconvene next week to discuss and strategize the union's options.

 

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ALL-IN-ALL, A GOOD ELECTION — This is our first e-lert since the Oregon Primary Election, and May 18 was, by and large, a very good day for Oregon AFSCME-endorsed candidates. From the top of the ballot on through local elections, the vast majority of people supported by Council 75 won their races and are heading on to the General Election come Nov. 2.

 

The statewide voter turnout was 41 percent, about six points higher than anticipated. Republicans, who had a hotly contested gubernatorial primary, voted at a 50 percent rate. Democrats voted at a 45 percent clip, but independents and minor party members came in at only 26 percent, dragging down the statewide rate.

 

Election results will not be official for another 20 days or so, but most outcomes are not in doubt. Following is a breakdown of how AFSCME's endorsed candidates fared. As we typically boldface names on first reference in the e-lert anyway, Council 75-endorsed candidates are denoted in underlined boldface below.

 

In statewide elections, former governor John Kitzhaber took another step toward becoming current governor again by easily defeating friendly foe Bill Bradbury. Kitzhaber garnered some 66 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary. He'll face former Portland Trail Blazer Chris Dudley in the fall. Dudley, who has no political experience, won the GOP primary by a 40 to 32 percent margin over Allen Alley. Former legislator John Lim was third with 14 percent.

 

And please, can someone explain how Bill Sizemore received 19,016 votes? I had no idea his extended family was that large.

 

Former Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler, who was appointed Oregon Treasurer when Ben Westlund passed away earlier this year, easily defeated state Sen. Rick Metsger (D-Welches) in the Democrat's primary. Wheeler will face Sen. Chris Telfer (R-Bend) in November; Telfer was unopposed in the GOP primary.

 

Current Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo ended up with a real fight on her hands in apparently just edging out state Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass) to keep her statewide non-partisan job another four years.

 

In Oregon legislative races, for AFSCME the two key races involved Rep. Bob Jenson (R-Pendleton) and Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner). Jenson and Smith were targeted by the Republican Party because they voted for the bills that became Measures 66 and 67 (Smith actually voted for only one of the two). Oregon Republican Party Chair Bob Tiernan, a former legislator with a long history of denouncing public employee unions, openly campaigned against his two party incumbents. Oregon AFSCME and other unions supported Jenson and Smith, who had 81 and 75 percent AFSCME voting records respectively in the 2009 Legislature.

 

In the end Tiernan ended up with a lot of egg on his face and much crow to eat, as both Jenson and Smith won their primaries, though not without a bit of role reversal. Jenson was generally considered the "safer" of the two candidates, but he had a close tussle with Mike Mathisen, winning by a 52 to 48 percent margin. Smith, on the other hand, soundly defeated Colleen MacLeod 63 to 37 percent. Jenson, who represents House District 58, and Smith (District 57) should both now win easily in the fall in their GOP-dominated districts.

 

Another AFSCME-endorsed Republican, John Swanson, didn't fare as well in District 51, where Patrick Sheehan garnered 59 percent of the vote.

 

Most AFSCME-endorsed Democrats in House races either were unopposed or faced only token opposition. The one exception was Will Rasmussen in District 29, who was part of a three-person field. Rasmussen pulled in 60 percent of the vote, however, with opponents Gerritt Rosenthal and Joelle Davis both tallying 20 percent.

 

Three union-endorsed state Senate candidates had contested races, though only one of those was somewhat close. Sen. Rod Monroe (D-Portland), who has an automatic endorsement based on his 100 percent AFSCME voting record in 2009, was in a three-way tussle with former legislator Ron McCarty and candidate Dave Mowry. Monroe took 49 percent, McCarty 27 and Mowry 24. Monroe will face token opposition from Republican Rob Wheeler in the extremely heavy Democratic Portland Senate District 24 in the fall.

 

Longtime incumbent Sen. Jackie Winters (R-Salem) swamped her GOP primary opponent, Sarah Arcune, in Senate District 10 by an 82 to 18 percent margin. And in Senate District 15, Chuck Riley easily outpaced Travis Comfort 77 to 23 percent. Riley is attempting to move over to the Senate from the House, where he had a 100 percent AFSCME record in 2009.

 

You can go to the Election Central tab on our website if you'd like to review the full list of legislative endorsements.

 

The highlight of the various local elections was our own Pat Riggs-Henson making the November run-off for Lane County Commissioner. Riggs-Henson, a longtime Local 2831 (Lane County) and Council 75 union activist, retired last year from her position with the county. She's now active with the Oregon AFSCME Retirees Council.

 

Riggs-Henson is running for Position 2 on the Lane County Commission, which is essentially the Springfield area, where she and her husband, current Oregon AFSCME Staff Representative Rick Henson, have lived for many years. Riggs-Henson easily qualified for the November run-off by placing a strong second in a crowded seven-person race. Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken took 41 percent of the ballots, followed by Riggs-Henson with 28 percent. Joe Pishioneri was third at 17 percent, while four other candidates garnered the remaining 1,500 votes. Leiken and Riggs-Henson are vying to replace retiring Lane County Commissioner (and former legislator) Bill Dwyer.

 

Election Night's biggest disappointment came in Salem, where Local 2067-endorsed mayoral candidate Chuck Bennett lost a squeaker to Anna Peterson. Peterson claimed 51 percent of the Salem vote, Bennett 48 percent.

 

All other candidates endorsed by Oregon AFSCME local unions either won outright or are headed for November run-offs. These include:

 

á       Robert Austin for Clackamas County Commission Position No. 2. As it stands right now, Austin, with 49 percent, is headed for a run-off with Paul Savas, who received 29 percent. Candidate Warren Kitchen claimed 22 percent of the vote. Should the final numbers edge Austin to 50 percent plus one vote, he would win outright and avoid a run-off.

 

á       Incumbent Clackamas County Commissioner Jim Bernard won another term for Position 5 by capturing 55 percent of the vote in his race.

 

á       Coos County Sheriff Andy Jackson took the first step in ousting incumbent Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean by claming 39 percent of the vote for Coos Position 3. He'll face Stufflebean in a run-off after Stufflebean took second place in a crowded eight-person field with 26 percent.

 

á       In a wild 11-person race, incumbent Josephine County Commissioner Dave Toler was the top vote-getter for Position 1 with 43 percent of the vote. He'll face off in November against Simon Hare, who received 23 percent.

 

á       At the Metro regional government in the Portland tri-county area, Councilor Kathryn Harrington easily won re-election to her District 4 seat with 70 percent of the vote. Oregon AFL-CIO Political Director Duke Shepard didn't do as well in District 1, but he did make a November run-off with 22 percent. Opponent Shirley Craddick garnered 47 percent in that race.

 

á       Finally, the two Multnomah County AFSCME-endorsed candidates coasted home to easy wins. Jeff Cogen is the newly elected Multnomah County Chair with 77 percent of the vote, while recently appointed Sheriff Dan Staton ran away with an elected four-year term, grabbing 80 percent of the votes for that position.

 

Again, you can view the full list of Primary Election endorsements in the Election Central tab. Even later in the year when the General Election endorsements are posted, the primary list will be archived at the bottom of that page for future reference.

 

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SOME GOOD PERS NEWS — In a win for members of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, both current workers and retirees who had money in the PERS variable account may see a minor upward bump, following a decision May 12 by the Oregon Court of Appeals.

 

In the Murray case, the Court of Appeals reversed the Oregon PERS Board on its decisions to charge the PERS variable account for administrative expenses in years of account loss. Such losses occurred in down markets in 2001 and 2002.

 

Over those two years, PERS charged the variable account principle just under $2 million to cover the losses. According to attorney Tom Doyle, who argued the case for the PERS Coalition law firm Bennett & Hartman, this was different than how PERS handled the situation for the "regular" account.

 

"Basically, PERS argued that the variable account is a stand-alone fund, separate from the overall umbrella of the PERS system," said Doyle. "In fact, the general statute applies to the variable account and how such administrative expenses are to be paid. Simply put, the variable account is 'under the wing,' so to speak, of PERS in general and has to be treated the same way."

 

Doyle says PERS argued that the statutes allowed it to treat the variable account differently and charge against what it termed its "negative interest."

 

"The court readily rejected this 'negative interest' argument and held that the variable account was entitled to be treated on the same basis as the regular account when allocating administrative expenses," said Doyle.

 

So what does this mean? Doyle says it is "unlikely, though possible" PERS will appeal this ruling to the Oregon Supreme Court. Therefore, assuming this is the final ruling, this is minor good news for some current members and retirees.

 

á       Current members — If you had money in the variable account in 2001 and/or 2002, you will see your variable account balance re-figured to a higher level to reflect the amount that was taken from it to cover the administrative expenses.

 

á       Retirees — If you had money in the variable account in 2001 and/or 2002, you will see a slight increase in your monthly benefit check due to your variable account balance re-figured to a higher level to reflect the amount that was taken from it to cover the administrative expenses.

 

Doyle also said "it appears likely" that PERS did the same thing in 2008, when the variable account also sustained losses. He expects the agency to use the current ruling to settle accounts vis-ˆ-vis 2008 losses as well, so that could mean an additional minor increase for effected PERS members.

 

With Murray seemingly resolved, that leaves four pieces of litigation stemming from the 2003 PERS reforms still pending in the courts. You can click here to jump a quick review and analysis from PERS Coalition attorney Greg Hartman on those four remaining cases.

 

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ARBITRATOR SIDES WITH STATE — An arbitrator has ruled in favor of the State of Oregon in a contract arbitration decision that impacts Council 75's Security bargaining unit within the Department of Corrections.

 

The state and AFSCME were unable to come to a negotiated agreement during last year's regular round of contract bargaining. As a non-strikeable public safety unit, the negotiations moved into binding arbitration, with the state and the union both presenting their "last best offers" to independent arbitrator Michael Cavanaugh, who released his decision on May 24.

 

"Obviously we disagree and are disappointed, but we all understood this was the chance we took when we collectively decided to move forward into arbitration," said Council 75 Corrections Coordinator Tim Woolery. "From our review of his decision, it is apparent that a major portion of Cavanaugh's reasoning was due to all other bargaining units either accepting, or having been ordered, to have a rollback of wages. Therefore, in his view, internal equity and reason dictated that the AFSCME Security bargaining unit should suffer a similar fate as well."

 

You can read Woolery's full analysis of the decision, as well as the settlement details, on the Oregon AFSCME Corrections website.

 

The union had argued that it is impossible to enforce mandatory furlough days in a 24/7 secure institutional environment such as a state prison in the same manner such days are handled in other state agencies. Under the decision, DOC Security employees will essentially lose 10 "furlough days" by having holiday pay eliminated on days they actually work. But there will be four actual furlough days at the prisons as well, and the union's focus will now turn to those four days.

 

"The reality is that the DOC has two options," said Woolery. "One, you call in people from other shifts to cover staffing on the 'furlough days' and spend a bunch of money on overtime, since there is no extra pool of Corrections workers. If you do that, the overtime pay will by-and-large burn up the furlough day savings, so you haven't really accomplished anything budget-wise from the furlough day, you're just waving a flag to the public and saying, 'See, we had a furlough day, too.'

 

"Two," Woolery continued, "you can actually short-staff the institutions on those four days and pray that nothing happens. I don't think they'll do that. I think they'll pull in people from other shifts and pay the overtime, and again, it'll pretty much be grandstanding to say that we had furlough days."

 

"We will be diligent in watching how the DOC handles these furlough days," added Allen. "The safety of our members inside the prison walls is always our primary concern."

 

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PULLING FOR JAMES — If you haven't heard, Council 75 Staff Representative James Hester is on leave for several weeks as he fights a cancer situation. He is undergoing treatment and doing very well to date, and our prayers, thoughts and well wishes are with him. Hester's primary assignment is Local 189 (City of Portland), and Allen is filling in at bargaining as Local 189 and the rest of the District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) open contract negotiations with the city.  

 

For those of you on Facebook, there is a specific James Updates page you can join where Bro. Jimmy himself will keep you posted on what's happening, plus you can post your own messages of encouragement — or even better, just give him a bad time for missing work!

 

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WANNA MARCH? — Everybody loves a parade ... or so the saying goes. And Portland-area AFSCME members will have the opportunity not only to watch but actually to participate in not one, but two parades in the coming weeks.

 

On June 5, Council 75 will have a float in the Portland Starlight Parade. The Starlight Parade is an auxiliary, less formal event held prior to the Rose Festival's Grand Floral Parade. As the name implies, the Starlight Parade is held at night so all the floats and marching units are illuminated.

 

The theme of the float will be "AFSCME Gives," and organizers are looking for pictures of AFSCME members at their jobs and also of them helping out in the community. The photos will be enlarged and placed on the float along with members walking alongside.

 

If you'd like to participate in the AFSCME Starlight Parade event in any way, please contact Oregon AFSCME Organizer Rodney McCambridge, Council 75 Staff Representative Kate Baker or Carol Justice of Local 189 right away.

 

On June 20, Oregon AFSCME will participate in the 2010 Portland Pride Parade. The annual event celebrates Portland's gay, lesbian and bisexual community.

 

"We will march this year, along with the Oregon AFL-CIO, to support our lesbian, gay and bisexual members," said Allen. "We have a substantial number of gay and lesbian members — or members who have a gay or lesbian family member. We want all of our members to know that they are valued and important to our union and the labor movement."

 

If you would like more information on AFSCME's participation in the Portland Pride Parade, you can contact either Local 88 (Multnomah County) President Michael Hanna or Local 328 (OHSU) President Jaimie Sorenson, who are spearheading the event. There is also an online link available for those who would like to register to join the AFSCME contingent in the parade.

 

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WHAT IF I'VE DIED SINCE THEN? — We end this edition of the e-lert with this gem. About 180 county employees in suburban Atlanta are being asked to return thousands of dollars the county says they were overpaid 16 years ago.

 

Gwinnett County's chief financial officer, Aaron Bovos, calls it a project to "clean up receivables and to eliminate outstanding obligations."

 

The county is seeking to collect more than $39,000 from employees who received bonuses in their paychecks in 1994. Authorities blamed the overpayments on a payroll anomaly when the county adjusted employees' payroll cycles.

 

Bovos says employees can apply the money to vacation leave or simply make a cash payment. No word on whether Gwinnett County takes Visa or MasterCard.

 

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