Bargaining Update – July 14, 2025

Bargaining Update #22

Glossary

SAM: Stewards and Managers (usually referring to a SAM meeting)

TA: tentative Agreement

CCL: current contract language

ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act

MAT: Member Action Team

LGBTQ2SIA+: lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, two-spirit, intersex, asexual, +

This week we presented our counter-proposal on Seniority and Layoffs and received three (3) counter-proposals from the County. 

County Proposals

• • Article 19: Modification of Work Performed by the Bargaining Unit – Contracting, Intergovernmental Agreements, and Use of Volunteers   

• The County struck-out all of our proposed language asserting that no employee may be transferred, reassigned, demoted, laid off, or otherwise have their work schedule altered as a result of contracting-out work. 

• • • The County also struck out our proposed language asserting that the use of volunteers may not replace or prevent the filling of any bargaining unit positions or result in layoffs of bargaining unit employees.
    • The County’s position on this article has remained consistent with current contract language, aside from accepting our proposed language from the March 6th bargaining session to bargain the impact of employee transfers resulting from an Intergovernmental Agreement.

• Article 20: Workload and Standards, Training, Performance Evaluation, and Organizational Excellence

• • • We had proposed language stating that significant changes to workload caused by layoffs, new technologies, or additional duties are subject to impact bargaining.
    • The County rejected that language and instead proposed language stating that the Union and the County may discuss workload expectations in labor management meetings when there’s a significant change.
      • We can already and do already do this in our SAM (Stewards and Managers) meetings. 
      • “Discussing” a change in workload does not obligate the County to actively participate in discussion with us and be open to exploring alternatives.
      •  Impact bargaining is subject to labor law and includes timeframes and outlines for negotiation, mediation, and resolution. 

• Article 24: Non-Discrimination

• • In our opening proposal for this article we included “disability” and “union represented status” among the list of contractually-prohibited discrimination.
  • The County accepted our inclusion of “disability” but not our inclusion of “union represented status”. 
  • Our contract is a legal document that when silent on a subject follows the most prohibitive applicable law. If there is a change in federal law regarding recognized discrimination and the language in our contract is more prohibitive, our contract is what the County must adhere to. We are aware of the current federal administration’s anti-labor agenda and we feel it necessary to get ahead of any attack on our rights to participate in our Union without fear of retaliation. 
  • The County is engaging with our proposed language around microaggressions, but we want to make it very clear that there is an ongoing problem with managers within the County perpetuating microaggressions against represented staff and in some cases, accusing a member of a protected class of being discriminatory against a member of a dominant culture. This is not acceptable and this is not what a culture based in equity looks like. 

Union Counter Proposals 

• Article 21: Seniority and Layoff

• We proposed that On-Call employees who move into regular status have their seniority calculated by adding the total number of hours worked divided by forty (40) to determine the number of weeks of seniority counted, rather than the current contract language of dividing the total number of hours worked by eight (8) hours to determine the number of days of seniority counted. 

• • The County already agreed to our language increasing the length of time a laid-off employee can remain on the recall list from twenty-four (24) to thirty-six (36) months. The County’s position has been that once an employee declines an offer of recall, they should be removed from the list, but a lot can change while someone is on the recall list, and it’s possible that not every offer of recall will suit the employee’s needs. We maintained our position that employees on the recall list should have the opportunity to decline up to three (3) offers of recall to a position before being removed from the list to be recalled to County employment. 

Wondering Where We’re at in Negotiations? 

You can view the current status of all Tentative Agreements reached and which counter-proposals are pending from either side of the table by clicking on this link: Status of Proposals.

Did You Know? 

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law 35 years ago on July 26, 1990. This historic civil rights law protects the rights of people with disabilities.

The original Disability Pride flag was created by Ann Magill, who has cerebral palsy. “The original flag featured brightly colored zigzagging stripes over a black background. The zig-zag symbolized the barriers people with disabilities face. However, this design caused symptoms in individuals with visually triggered disabilities when viewed on devices.” The new flag was designed as a collaborative community effort, and Magill waived her copyright for the flag; everyone is free to use the flag design and make their own adjustments. The new flag accommodates red-green colorblindness and each of the six color stripes hold meaning:

• Red: physical disabilities.
• Gold: neurodiversity.
• White: invisible disabilities and undiagnosed conditions
• Blue: emotional and psychiatric disabilities.
• Green: sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness, and other sensory disabilities.
• Faded Black Background: mourning and rage for victims of ableist violence and abuse.

For further reading, please refer to adaanniversary.org

The Wheels of Justice March and Capitol Crawl of March 12th, 1990 is attributed by some as providing the “final push” to get the Americans with Disabilities Act passed by legislation. Although the ADA had bipartisan support, it faced severe opposition from business interests and was making little movement through House Committees. Shortly before the ADA was passed, over 700 disability activists gathered in front of the White House and began the Wheels of Justice march to the Capitol. Upon arriving at the Capitol, speeches were heard by prominent community organizers and disability activists of the time. When the speeches concluded, “60 people with disabilities got out of their wheelchairs and stopped using their crutches to crawl up the steps leading to the Capitol manually” in what is referred to as the “Capitol Crawl”. After reaching the top of the steps, the activists entered the Capitol and told legislators to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Disability History: The Wheels of Justice March & Capitol Crawl)                                                         

Action Items & Events 

• We are making a virtual card for the Central Library staff following an incident that occurred on July 3rd near the library that resulted in the loss of a community member. Add your contributions here: We Appreciate Central Library Staff
• Now until July 21st: Participate in our Member Appreciation Raffle! To say thank you for your continued support, we are giving away multiple prizes donated from local businesses and organizations. Prizes include tickets to a Portland Pickles game, Hopscotch, Rose City Comic Con passes, a gift certificate for dinner and a movie, Rose City Rollers tickets, and more. Enter the raffle here: AFSCME Local 88 Raffle Entry Form
• Monday, July 14th, 6:30-7:30pm: Come join our Virtual Member Action Team Meeting as we continue to organize for our worker’s rights and a fair contract. We need you! Our membership is only as strong as our engagement. 
• Wednesday, July 16th, 6:15-8:15 pm: Join our General Membership meeting as we nominate and vote to send some of our Local 88 members to the 2025 Oregon AFL-CIO Statewide Convention on Seaside, Oregon on September 4-6.
• Sunday, July 20th, 11 am: Join Oregon’s Labor Movement for the Portland Pride Parade, as we march in solidarity with our LGBTQ2SIA+ siblings and demonstrate our commitment to defending the rights of all Oregon workers.
• Sign Up to join our Events Committee and help plan our Labor Day Picnic! Save the date and join us on Monday, September 1.

Our counters can be found in our published proposals folder for everyone to read in more detail. Please keep emailing the Bargaining Team at bargaining@afscmelocal88.org with your questions and concerns. If you want to watch us bargain, sign up to be a Bargaining Observer! Follow Local 88 on Instagram and Facebook and check out the AFSCME Local 88 website to stay up to date on all our Local’s news.