Latest Offer and Governors Phone Number

Here was managements offer from yesterday:

Raises 10/1/07 2.5%, no less than $50 per month

10/1/08 2.5%, no less than $50 per month

This is a real step forward, but it is still less than inflation (which was 3.2% in 2006 and is projected to be 2.4% in 2007), and the timing of the raises remains problematic.

Health Insurance:

7/1/07 to 12/31/08: Fully paid premiums for full timers

1/1/09-6/30/09: The State will pay an increase up to 12%; if costs go up more than that, the excess will be paid out of PEBB reserves.

Part timers: The State will continue part time subsidy but will not increase the amount

Vacation: The State has offered more vacation (18 hours per month) for employees with 25 years of service

Living Wage Proposal and Selectives:

We have a long way to go on our proposal to restructure the salary scale to lift our lowest paid members out of poverty and to gain selective salary increases for job classifications that are being paid below market. The State has rejected our living wage proposals completely, and they granted no additional selective salary increases (beyond the handful previously offered). The State’s intransigence in this area is a serious obstacle to settlement

We will bargain again on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week. We also have ODOT bargaining on Monday, where we are making slow progress.

In addition to encouraging members to call their agency heads and managers, we now think it is helpful to encourage them to call the governor’s office at the following number: 503-378-4582. They will get an answering machine, but the messages will be monitored on a daily basis and reported to the Governor.