This is Ry from your RWU Bargaining Council. We are several months into contract bargaining, and most topics now being discussed are complex! We’re going to do our best to lay out what’s going on in negotiations. RWU presented responses to several articles, and OHSU gave responses to some, but not all, of our proposals. With bargaining going on for a full 6 months now, we hope to hear responses from OHSU about Hours of Work, Holidays and PTO, Compensation, and Insurance. The ball is in their court about these articles, and I’m as anxious as you are to hear what OHSU’s responses will be. Waiting is an unfortunate part of contract negotiations. However, we got a Tentative Agreement (TA) for Modified Operations.

OHSU gave responses to the following articles.

PI eligibility

We are now firmly into economic topics, which so many members, myself included, list as top priorities. PI eligibility may not at first seem like an economic topic, but since funding is so tied to PI status, I’m considering it an economic topic!

OHSU outright rejected our proposal on this important issue for our members. The RWU bargaining team were, honestly insulted by management's response, and pointed out the inconsistency between what they told us at the table - that there might be circumstances in which a Staff Scientist could be eligible to be PI on a grant - and the specific language of their policy. The policy clearly states that Staff Scientists are not eligible under any circumstances. Additionally, the bargaining team pointed out inconsistencies in how the PI role is applied, a lack of clear communication in reasoning, and contradictory messaging about who is eligible to be a PI, and what, if any, exceptions are available.

OHSU brought in two specialists to discuss PI classification and eligibility: EVP and Chief Research Officer Peter Barr-Gillespie and Senior Director of Office of Proposal & Award Management Kellie Guentert. They talked about the historic reasoning for excluding Staff Scientist roles from PI eligibility, despite their overlap in duties. The reasoning being the desire for a high-level position for PHD employees who did not want to manage employees as a PI does. They also stated that faculty members are the ones charged with management over the generation and dissemination of knowledge, not our members.

We pointed out that because many grants are restricted to PIs for applications, expanding this classification would allow more researchers to apply, securing more funding for the University and more security for Research Workers. It’s clear that they are treating our members very differently than other employees at OHSU, not just faculty.

We want to hear your thoughts on this subject. Have you ever requested to be a PI but were denied? Please fill out this survey:

RWU PI Eligibility Survey

We offered responses to the following articles.

TI classifications and pay rate adjustment

        OHSU conceded that there was an error in the way that previous wage adjustments affected TI classified employees. Their wages were significantly below what they should have been. The OHSU bargaining team expressed a desire to reconcile that difference via backpay to those workers. They proposed ways to do that which would not put unreasonable strain on PI budgets, including the option of payments over time, since many PIs do not have the funding to pay out a large lump sum of back pay. No one wants to be let go because there was not the money to pay out required wages all at once. If you are a TI employee affected by this error, we would love to hear your thoughts and how to best resolve this situation.

Career development

        We reiterated the importance of career development to RWU members, and by extension, the rest of OHSU, which benefits from the continual expansion of our skills and training. Overall, our proposals are to expand Career and Workplace Enhancement (CWE) training to RWU members, who are currently not eligible. We highlighted the lack of knowledge about the training that RWU members ARE eligible for.

Specific proposals include offering but not requiring 24 hours per year minimum of CWE training for RWU employees, education expense reimbursement, training for new technologies, paid exam time and fees, education for new requirements of job positions, as well as basic skills training with language borrowed from 328’s contract. We raised concerns about how CWE training opportunities are communicated to employees, and OHSU responded that members of other departments, i.e., non-RWU members, receive more frequent communications informing them of training opportunities, and that increasing that frequency would be possible.

International Affairs

        RWU proposed language borrowed from the Post-doc Workers Union contract, with the language broadened to fit the wide variety of workers in RWU. We defined what responsibilities OHSU has to its international researchers, such as providing certain information and maintaining flexibility for researchers and PIs. Here’s what we proposed.

Visas:

• OHSU must provide info on the visa categories relevant to Researchers upon hire, links to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, and an international handbook provided by the Office of International Affairs on immigration regulations
• OHSU shall pay all visa and SEVIS fees related to the Researcher’s employment at OHSU, including H1B fees, SEVIS fees for J1 workers, and visa application/reciprocity fees.
• OHSU must take all necessary actions to secure the renewal of an employee’s visa prior to the current visa’s expiration
• International workers who must leave the country for visa renewal must be allowed to perform remote work if applicable for their position, or be given up to 10 days of paid leave.

Taxes

• Seminars, virtual training, and guidance are proposed to be provided on tax filing.
• Links to IRS sites

Permanent residency sponsorship

• International workers who have worked at least 6 months are eligible to have their green card fees paid by OHSU.
• Family members may be included in the application, but OHSU is not responsible for paying these fees.

Hardship Fund

        Using language pulled from 328 contracts, we proposed the creation of a hardship fund to support members in need. OHSU said that, as this is an economic article, they would get back to us later.

DEI

              We changed a few words to avoid particular language considerations, OHSU agreed with our intent here and expressed the desire to work with RWU to remain in compliance with regulations.

Bargaining Session Observation Link:
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Your RWU Bargaining Team,

Henry Harrison

Lynne Swarbrick

Victoria Halls

Lillian Raley

Wes Horton

Cort Cox

Anna Levy

Caitlin Burbank