This is Eli from the RWU Member Action Team, here to provide another update from last week's bargaining session.

But first, a clarification: RWU sent a message directly addressing non-renewal notices on Friday. In case anyone missed it, we want to include some additional information here as well: Because of the original layoff letter of agreement (LOA) that we’ve signed with OHSU, researchers must receive a 60-day notice of being laid off due to a loss of funding. So, a researcher’s last day of pay cannot be less than 60 days from the date of receiving a layoff notice. Since many contracts end on June 30th, this was a major concern for us, but if you haven't received a notice like that then you can rest assured that funding was continued past June 30th. Again, so much of this has been from a position of responding to national and statewide events beyond OHSU in realtime over the past few months, and we appreciate everyone's patience and support as we try to sort this out and advocate for protections and support. We hope to be able to announce an expanded LOA very shortly!

Please reach out to RWU ([email protected]) or Eddie Charlton ([email protected]) if your final day of employment is stated to be less than 60 days from the date that you receive a notice or you have any other questions or concerns. OHSU Labor Relations have expressed the desire to work to quickly resolve any discrepancies. You can read the full text of the current LOA here.

During the bargaining session, RWU presented three articles to management:

• Travel Expenses: This is a very short article that states that researchers must have approval in writing from their Fiscal Authority prior to travel and purchase of any travel-related expense and whenever possible, it is preferred for the Employer to pay directly for approved costs of travel, with reimbursement being limited to per diem expenses (e.g. food, transportation, or supplies acquired during travel).

• Submission of Contract Proposal: In this article, we have proposed that bargaining unit members with PhDs or PhD-level experience be eligible to be Co-Investigators on proposals and be eligible for Principal Investigator status if the proposal does not contain salary support for another bargaining unit member (or it does contain salary support but the researcher is the only person with the special knowledge required to conduct the grant). In either case, written approval from the researcher’s supervisor would be required. This is a rewritten proposal after receiving feedback from management regarding PI Eligibility.

• Modified Operations: This article has been passed back and forth a few times, and the latest version contained mostly minor changes including stating explicitly that 1) supervisors must notify employees if their work unit will remain open during an instance of modified operations and 2) critical function employees should communicate with their supervisor to ensure all critical function responsibilities are completed, at which point they can return home when safe to do so.
• Compensation Update: RWU added an additional two grades to the compensation proposal which required additional information not available at the time of the initial proposal.

You can view all in-progress articles with accompanying rationale here. You can view other TA'd articles here.

Finally, two fellow RWU members joined us and did a wonderful job stating the case for bilingual pay differentials for researchers who use more than one language while fulfilling their job responsibilities. We are asking that these qualified researchers receive a 10% pay increase in order for them to be fairly compensated for this work. They described the outreach work that they do at community centers to recruit people for studies and connect them with resources when in many cases the patients do not speak English and would not be recruited otherwise. They explained how their team has been doing comprehensive extra work at the crossroads of research and public health and pointed out that this important work aligns with OHSU’s diversity and health equity missions. It was really inspiring!

Other updates:

• AFSCME is coordinating two ONPRC advocacy events at the Capitol. You can register to testify against an amendment to SB181 on Tuesday, May 13th here. Additionally, you can join an ONPRC Lobby Day in Salem on Monday, May 19th (register here).

RWU in action:

• RWU members have created a petition urging Oregon legislators to protect NIH-funding in the state. Please add your signature to that here.
• AFSCME has set up a Letter Campaign to send individual letters straight to the Governor's office. Send Tina Kotek a letter here.
• RWU members joined in helping to organize three HELU-affiliated rallies (two on the SW waterfront and another at the capitol building in Salem) in protest of Federal-level funding freezes and potential cuts to the indirect rates at the NIH. The next event is Corvallis later this week and an RWU member will be speaking.
• RWU members attended two different AFSCME-coordinated lobbying sessions at the Capitol in February and March and joined Oregon Representatives in sponsoring bills for state protections and commitments to sustained research funding levels this past week with testimony in support of HJM 6.

The next bargaining session will be on Thursday, May 29th from 1-5pm. You can join remotely by Webex at the link below:

Bargaining Session Observation Link:
https://ohsu.webex.com/ohsu/j.php?MTID=ma1a89de4c1b53e3209ae8aaeb8218598

Meeting Number:
2867 749 7423

Meeting Password:
G5Tm3D2ZmgQ

Join from a video or application:
Dial [email protected]

You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.Join by phone:
+1-503-388-9555

Toll Access code: 28677497423

Global call-in numbers:
https://ohsu.webex.com/ohsu/globalcallin.php?MTID=mde484d4fd69e728b416856acd57b247e

Your RWU Bargaining Team,

Henry Harrison

Lynne Swarbrick

Victoria Halls

Lillian Raley

Wes Horton

Cort Cox

Anna Levy

Caitlin Burbank