Differences in RWU and OHSU Positions 1/7/26

Wages

• Annual raise determined by employer with no input from employees or managers beyond GROW process.
• No guaranteed raise

Check out our wage calculator to see how OHSU’s and RWU’s positions would affect you!

• Across the board increases:
  • Year 1: 6.5% ATB or $1.25/hour, whichever is higher. Minimum wage of $20/hour
  • Year 2: 6% ATB or $1/hour, whichever is higher, minimum wage of $22/hour
  • Year 3: 5.5% ATB or $1/hour, whichever is higher, minimum wage of $24/hour
• 5% Differential Pay for bilingual researchers 

• Across the board increases:
  • Year 1: 4% ATB or $1.25/hour, whichever is higher. Minimum wage of $20/hour
  • Year 2: 3.25% ATB or $1/hour, whichever is higher, minimum wage of $21/hour
  • Year 3: 3% ATB or $1/hour, whichever is higher, minimum wage of $22/hour
• 5% Differential Pay for bilingual researchers

Paid Time Off

• Cash out 80 hours PTO at 50% when leaving OHSU
• Access EIB after 40 hours PTS
• 5 days UNPAID bereavement leave

• Cash out 80 hours of PTO when leaving OHSU
• Access EIB after 24 hours of PTS
• 3 days PAID bereavement leave per year

• No changes to status quo for cashout of PTO.
• Access EIB after 24 hours of PTS
• 3 days PAID bereavement leave per year

International Affairs

• Variable by department   

• Provides a guarantee that the employer will continue to pay for visa costs if the federal landscape governing those rules changes.

• No guarantees and if federal law changes for the worse…

Reclassification

• Only manager can initiate reclassification
• No guaranteed raise

• Splitting reclassifications into:
  • Promotions - prospective change upward through series
    • Employee or Manager can submit request
    • 4% minimum raise
    • Temporary work out of class pay (4% above current salary)
  • Reclassifications - any other change of classification, employee or manager submits requests. If reclassification to a higher job grade, 3% minimum raise, if reclassification is upward in series, 4% minimum raise.

Insurance

• 88% coverage for dependents on all plans, except high deductible plan, which has >97% coverage for dependents.
• Domestic partners not guaranteed to be covered - OHSU tried to take this away last year
• Limited tier 1 options for employees outside of the Portland metro area. 

• 100% coverage for dependents on EPO plan
• Domestic partners guaranteed to be covered
• Making improvements to existing Aetna national health plan to address access and administrative burdens for remote workers
  • National plan with Tier 1 options by Jan 1, 2027
  • By June 1, 2026, OHSU will convert 100 clinics in Oregon outside of Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties and a hospital in Lane County to Tier 1 under the PPO plan.
• Mandatory coverages: 
  • Pregnancy ending care and
  • Gender-affirming care, treatment, and procedures.
• Addition of open enrollment period to allow change to EPO plan (after ratification).

Hours of Work

• No premium pay

• Premium pay for non-exempt employees when working on designated holiday and when called back to the worksite with short notice. 

Hardship Fund

• No hardship fund

• $50K each year to help members facing food, housing, or childcare insecurity

Job Security

These are in effect as of 5/7/25 through MOU

• Annual contracts – any researcher could be terminated on June 30th for any reason
• Not automatically eligible for unemployment insurance
• No preferential re-hiring of laid off researchers

• We are permanent employees – no more annual contracts! 
• 60 day notice of layoff required.
• Eligible for unemployment insurance if laid off
• Preferential hiring list to ensure laid off researchers get first shot at eligible position

Retirement

• Hired pre-July 1, 2017: 12% 
• Hired post-July 1, 2017: 6% employer, up to 6% match

• Ensures status quo levels of benefits, including for employees hired before July 1, 2017.
• Adds pre-retirement counseling 

Career Development

• No universal career development policy. Left to departments/ institutes. Inequitable across OHSU

• 16 hours of dedicated career development time each year 
• Counseling on how to progress in your classification series 
• Paid time for licensure and certification at discretion of department (ensuring that members who currently have access to this will continue to have access)
• Time spent at PI approved educational or training function is paid time, without using the career development hours

Discipline

• OHSU HR issues final decisions in disputes, without policies specific to researchers

• Clear procedures for addressing violations of our union contract, once ratified
• RWU members have right to union representation at all stages of grievance procedure
• Right to appeal to neutral 3rd party arbitrator as final decision maker

Health & Safety

• OHSU unilaterally set and enforced health and safety standards.

• Protections for working with dangerous materials
• Protections for researchers who refuse to perform unsafe work
• No employee will be asked to pay out of pocket costs for exposure to serious communicable disease

Who can be in the Union?

• Not all Research Workers were included as bargaining unit members when the union was certified in May 2024

• Staff Scientists, Research Project Managers are in our union!
• No “supervisors” have been excluded from union so far

Non-

Discrimination

• Existing reporting systems are understaffed, tilted in favor of managers. 

• Non-discrimination article ensures that a researcher can file a grievance through the union in addition to existing avenues at OHSU if they experience discrimination, harassment or bullying.