Leadership

We recently held a sublocal election, and terms began on this meeting day.

We thanked everyone for their service in the previous term and welcomed newly elected leaders.  See our leadership page for more information.

We need two more people to step up and be our Bargaining Delegate Alternates.  These positions are a great way to see the process and learn how bargaining works without the pressure of being the primary delegates.  These positions fill in for the primary delegates if something comes up and they cannot attend.  Reach out to leadership if this is something you are interested in or would like more information about.

Director hiring process

We were originally left out of the director hiring process.  Through our work with SEIU 503 and our power at the capitol we were able to negotiate the ability to pose questions to the finalists in the public meeting on May 10.

Please wear something purple on May 10.  If you need purple items, reach out to your organizer or a leader.  We have lanyards, beanies, shirts, etc.

If you work at HQ, please shift your telework days around so that you can be in the office on Friday and attend the Q&A portion of the meeting in the Commission Room.  Employees not stationed at HQ are encouraged to watch the livestream.

Staff are encouraged to submit questions through the same portal that has been provided for the public for consideration by the recruiter.  What do you want to see in a director?  Conflict resolution skills?  A track record of working with staff on issues?

Contract Reminders

We won increases to uniform allowances ($25 across the board) in the last bargaining cycle.  Use your personal business time and uniform allowance before July.  Your special day resets separately on Jan. 1.

If you must miss your lunch break, you are compensated for that with comp time. This process is much more simple if you talk with your manager before it occurs and come to an agreement that it is not possible to take a lunch period.
ARTICLE 90.3E--WORK SCHEDULES (ODFW)
*Section 4. Rest periods shall be fifteen (15) minutes for every four (4) hours of work, or twenty (20) minutes for every five (5) hours of work. Rest periods shall be taken as work will allow, in the middle part of the work period. When the supervisor determines the rest period cannot be taken, the employee shall be compensated at the rate of one and one-half (1½) times in compensatory time for the missed rest period.*

Vacation time is available immediately upon accrual for employees, including those still in trial service.

Some employees at the lower end of the pay scales saw a raise for April, this was bargained for by your bargaining team.  Give them a shout out!

We bargain every two years, but we’re always thinking about bargaining.  The contract covers wages, benefits, and working conditions.  If you have ideas that fall under this umbrella that you would like to see changed or added to our contract, let us know.

Labor Management Committee (LMC) Update

Management has been good about working with us on training for managers to let them know about contract changes and additions.  We have been very pleased with the collaborative effort to help our managers be aware of our contract and updates to it.

Essential worker pay.  During the ice storms when offices were closed, some staff were still required to work and there was some confusion around essential worker pay.  Talk with your manager and HR about whether or not you are an essential worker.  Management has been working with us very well on this.  We’re still figuring out a few details at LMC.

Technology in the field.  Management is listening and working with us on this issue.  We’ve been told that staff should reach out to ISD for equipment needs if they are having network issues, need additional access points, etc.  Let us know if you run into issues, but we feel there has been good collaboration on this.

We’re set to get an update from the Housing Committee at the next meeting.

We haven’t received any info on the employee engagement survey aside from response rate yet.

General Council Resolution Proposal

Our sublocal voted to sponsor this resolution and send it to the 503 Resolutions Committee.  It aims to assess the workload, organization, and numbers of our field organizers.  This resolution now goes to the 503 Resolutions Committee where it may be combined with other similar resolutions.  If it goes to the General Council (GC) as it is currently written, there is still the possibility that it will be amended on the floor during open debate.  Stay tuned and we will report back what happens after GC.

https://local109.seiu503.org/news/2024-general-council-resolution-proposal/

Drafting and sponsoring resolutions is one of the tools our sublocal has to bring our voice to the SEIU 503 arena.  We hope to educate membership more on these kinds of processes in the future.