Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) is a state-wide program that will provide up to twelve weeks of paid leave to all Oregon workers. Beginning in January, the state program will be financed through employee and employer contributions with leave available next September. Individual employers have the option to pay all or some of the employee contributions or to develop their own equivalent (or better) plan as a substitute for the state program.
Here is a timeline of the bargaining process to date:
- The administration initially indicated that they intended to participate in the state plan. We issued a demand to bargain over OSU’s implementation of PLO on October 10, 2022 so that we could come to an agreement before January, when employers could begin to deduct employee contributions from paychecks. In all of their communications, the administration continued to signal that they would be participating in the state program.
- At our first bargaining session on October 27, we submitted an initial proposal that would protect faculty paychecks by obligating the employer to cover the employee contributions to the state plan and guarantee full replacement salary while faculty are on leave. We have met three times since then, but the administration has yet to respond to our proposal.
- On November 14, the administration informed us that they had, behind the scenes, submitted an application to the State to develop an equivalent plan for OSU, a plan that would be administered by The Standard Insurance Company. We have made several requests for a copy of that application, but have yet to receive it.
- In our discussions, the administration team has repeatedly stated that they do not plan to begin employee deductions (.6% of salary) in January. To memorialize that understanding, your UAOSU team submitted a proposal stating that OSU, the employer, would not make deductions from employee paychecks for the duration of the bargaining process.
- The administration team indicated that they needed time to consider this proposal and canceled our scheduled session for November 21. In our most recent session on November 28, the administration team indicated that, despite their verbal assurances, they were unwilling to make the agreement official by signing our proposal.
Our next session is scheduled for Monday, December 12 at 10 am on Zoom. You’re invited to observe our bargaining sessions and can register for the next one at uaosu.org/dec12. The administration team has told us they hope to have more information regarding their application to the State at that time.
Your membership empowers us to negotiate better working conditions for our bargaining unit, and we appreciate your support. If you haven’t had a chance, you can join your union at uaosu.org/join.
In solidarity,
Your bargaining team: Kathleen Stanley (UAOSU President and Lead Negotiator), Louisa Hooven (UAOSU Grievance Chair), Marisa Chappell (UAOSU Executive Vice President), Lori Cramer (UAOSU Representative), H Rakes (UAOSU Representative), Megan Dickison and Dan Andersen (UAOSU Executive Directors)