BREAKING: Research Workers United Officially Certified by Oregon Employment Relations Board on May 22, 2024
Following our submission of authorization cards last month, we are thrilled to confirm that the ERB have certified our union. This historic coalition of 1,800 researchers is the largest AFSCME union to form in Oregon in two decades, and will likely be the largest union across AFSCME International this year! It has taken a lot of effort on all our parts to get us here, and we want to thank each and every one of you for your support! Please come celebrate with us on Wednesday, May 29th at 12pm in the Old Auditorium and share free food with your coworkers and enjoy a speech from special guest AFSCME International President Lee Saunders!
In the spirit of solidarity, we hope you can stay after the celebration and join the Postdocs for their rally May 29, 1-1:30pm, as President Saunders and representatives from each of our campus unions deliver a message to OHSU management. OHSU showed up to mediation this week with the postdocs with a non-starter to amicable negotiations – proposing a 5 year contract with ZERO wage increases. Even with these unacceptable conditions, postdocs rallied to provide concessions, fully intending to reach an agreement - and OHSU still walked out. As the newest union in town, our support for the postdocs is critical as we prepare to bargain next and are likely to receive the same treatment by OHSU.
We have one more important announcement - amidst media reports of an impending $350,000 bonus for OHSU president Danny Jacobs, all indications show that OHSU still plans to cut funding of our benefits next year. This affects every single OHSU employee – the proposals so far to close the funding gap include potential increases to deductibles that would make our healthcare unaffordable. Please sign this petition and show OHSU that this is unacceptable! All of our OHSU unions are hard at work to fight these proposals, but we need as many voices as possible to join us!
Last, we will be planning a separate celebration for our West Campus supporters - details to come. We also need to give a shout out to all of our remote colleagues, who were a critical block in securing our majority! As we continue in our transition toward union representation, we will also be planning a “What Comes Next?” town hall event in the coming weeks. More info to come and thank you again for your support and contribution to this historic researchers’ union.
