From the Salem Statesman Journal, February 28 2009
Angry union workers at the Oregon State Hospital staged a march on the superintendent’s office Thursday, protesting a proposal by Gov. Ted Kulongoski that state employees take 24 unpaid furlough days and a wage freeze during the next two years.
Oregon State Hospital employees represented by the SEIU and AFSCME unions march to the superintendent's office to state their concerns about the governor's contract proposal including pay freezes and furloughs.
The confrontation was part of a statewide labor action organized by union officials Thursday to protest Kulongoski’s contract offer, said Ed Hershey, a spokesman for Local 503 of Service Employees International Union.
State workers across Oregon were urged to gather and confront the highest-ranking manager at their work site, he said.
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 75 also took part. Both unions represent different groups of employees at the state hospital.
People shouted “Let’s go!” as the crowd piled up the steps of the state hospital’s administration building and into Orr’s office. Orr emerged from his office, calm but visibly surprised by the group.
“This current contract proposal is insulting,” Dan Smith, a hospital psychologist and an SEIU board member, told Orr. “Will you pass that message along for us?”
“I’ll convey the sentiment you just conveyed to me,” Orr responded. “Yes, I will. Message received.”
Workers at the state hospital are concerned that the furlough days will lead to unsafe conditions, because there needs to be a minimum amount of staff there at all times. The hospital has been understaffed for years.
“It’s an entirely different situation than people who work downtown,” said AFSCME spokesman Don Loving. “These are 24-7 secure facilities. People at the state prisons are facing the same problem with these unpaid leave days.”
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The encounter was peaceful and afterward, Orr and employees shook hands as they filed out of the room. Some remained behind to ask more questions.
The march began with an informational session scheduled in a cafeteria on the hospital’s north campus. The workers were briefed by union officials on a contract proposal by Kulongoski that all union workers take 24 unpaid days off during the 2009-11 budget.
The governor proposed that 14 of those furlough days be taken on state holidays. Workers would still take the holidays off, but would not be paid for them. Only Veterans Day and New Year’s Day would remain as paid holidays.
Kulongoski also has proposed a total wage freeze for state employees, taking both cost-of-living increases and step increases off the table for the coming biennium.
The state is facing an estimated $3 billion budget shortfall during the next two years beginning July 1, and the contract concessions are part of cuts being made throughout state government to address the budget crisis.
Hisses and boos punctuated Smith’s presentation as he laid out the governor’s proposal to more than 100 workers who had gathered in the cafeteria at noon.
Union officials told the assembled group that SEIU and AFSCME will be sharing information as they pursue separate contract talks with the state, denying state negotiators the opportunity to play one union off the other. SEIU represents about 23,000 state workers, and AFSCME represents about 8,000 employees.
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There already are signs of that happening, said Dr. Lorraine Skatch, one of the hospital’s psychiatrists and president of the AFSCME local representing physicians there.
Part of the state’s proposal to SEIU is that its workers take two additional furlough days during the current budget period, which ends June 30. But the state did not make that demand of workers represented by AFSCME.
“Everyone here at Oregon State Hospital needs to work together to get the best for us,” Skatch said. “How are we going to tell doctors, ‘Come work for the state. You’ll have nine holidays. You’ll only get paid for two of them, but you will get the time off.'”
Smith declared that members needed to tell legislators and Orr of their displeasure at the governor’s contract proposal. Another hospital employee and SEIU board member, Randy Davis, responded that the group should take immediate action.
“Do you want to go tell him now?” Davis said in a booming voice. The assembled workers cheered in response. “Do you want to? Do you? Then let’s go tell them this is not a fair contract.”
With that, the agitated group stood up and started walking to the superintendent office, which is on the south campus across Center Street. Traffic stood still as they walked across and up to Orr’s office.
After meeting with Orr, the workers filed out and headed back to work.
“I can’t afford this,” said Sandy Brinlee, a timekeeper and office specialist at the hospital. She said she brings home $1,600 per month, and her husband has been laid off for three months from his construction job. “This will devastate my family.”
Davis said he doesn’t see how the furlough will work at the state hospital.
“We’re responsible every day to take care of the patients here,” he said. “If you furlough me, you have to get someone to fill in for me at time-and-a-half. It doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s an entirely different situation than people who work downtown,” said AFSCME spokesman Don Loving. “These are 24-7 secure facilities. People at the state prisons are facing the same problem with these unpaid leave days.”
The encounter was peaceful and afterward, Orr and employees shook hands as they filed out of the room. Some remained behind to ask more questions.
The march began with an informational session scheduled in a cafeteria on the hospital’s north campus. The workers were briefed by union officials on a contract proposal by Kulongoski that all union workers take 24 unpaid days off during the 2009-11 budget.
The governor proposed that 14 of those furlough days be taken on state holidays. Workers would still take the holidays off, but would not be paid for them. Only Veterans Day and New Year’s Day would remain as paid holidays.
Kulongoski also has proposed a total wage freeze for state employees, taking both cost-of-living increases and step increases off the table for the coming biennium.
The state is facing an estimated $3 billion budget shortfall during the next two years beginning July 1, and the contract concessions are part of cuts being made throughout state government to address the budget crisis.
Hisses and boos punctuated Smith’s presentation as he laid out the governor’s proposal to more than 100 workers who had gathered in the cafeteria at noon.
Union officials told the assembled group that SEIU and AFSCME will be sharing information as they pursue separate contract talks with the state, denying state negotiators the opportunity to play one union off the other. SEIU represents about 23,000 state workers, and AFSCME represents about 8,000 employees.
There already are signs of that happening, said Dr. Lorraine Skatch, one of the hospital’s psychiatrists and president of the AFSCME local representing physicians there.
Part of the state’s proposal to SEIU is that its workers take two additional furlough days during the current budget period, which ends June 30. But the state did not make that demand of workers represented by AFSCME.
“Everyone here at Oregon State Hospital needs to work together to get the best for us,” Skatch said. “How are we going to tell doctors, ‘Come work for the state. You’ll have nine holidays. You’ll only get paid for two of them, but you will get the time off.'”
Smith declared that members needed to tell legislators and Orr of their displeasure at the governor’s contract proposal. Another hospital employee and SEIU board member, Randy Davis, responded that the group should take immediate action.
“Do you want to go tell him now?” Davis said in a booming voice. The assembled workers cheered in response. “Do you want to? Do you? Then let’s go tell them this is not a fair contract.”
With that, the agitated group stood up and started walking to the superintendent office, which is on the south campus across Center Street. Traffic stood still as they walked across and up to Orr’s office.
After meeting with Orr, the workers filed out and headed back to work.
“I can’t afford this,” said Sandy Brinlee, a timekeeper and office specialist at the hospital. She said she brings home $1,600 per month, and her husband has been laid off for three months from his construction job. “This will devastate my family.”
Davis said he doesn’t see how the furlough will work at the state hospital.
“We’re responsible every day to take care of the patients here,” he said. “If you furlough me, you have to get someone to fill in for me at time-and-a-half. It doesn’t make sense.”