A strike that could have affected dining halls, building maintenance, campus offices and other services at Oregon’s seven public universities was called off early Monday after the universities and SEIU Local 503 reached a tentative contract agreement.
The agreement covers approximately 4,600 classified employees—the staff who perform many of a university’s day-to-day support jobs, including custodial, dining, maintenance and administrative work. They work at campuses from Portland State University to Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Union members must still vote to approve the contract.
The proposed deal includes cost-of-living pay increases of 3% this year and 3% next year, according to the union’s bargaining team. SEIU also said it retained existing protections governing the contracting out of jobs, layoffs, employees’ rights to move into other positions during layoffs, and health insurance. The complete contract has not yet been released, so the precise wording of those provisions remains unavailable for review.
Employees voted September 14 and 15 to authorize a strike. The union then gave the universities notice that workers could leave their jobs September 28 if negotiations failed. Bargaining continued as the deadline approached, and the union announced a deal before Monday’s shifts began. It instructed members to report to work at their usual times.
The negotiations covered Portland State, Western Oregon, Oregon State, the University of Oregon, Eastern Oregon, Southern Oregon University and Oregon Tech. Several campuses were beginning fall classes Monday. A walkout would have reached the staff responsible for services students and faculty use throughout the academic day, although the effect would have varied by campus and department.
Wages remained a central issue in the final days of talks. The union sought annual 3% cost-of-living increases and opposed proposed changes to job and health care protections. The universities cited financial pressures during negotiations, including rising benefit costs and budget difficulties. Their bargaining representatives pointed to Southern Oregon University’s declaration of financial exigency as evidence of the conditions facing some campuses.
The announced pay increases address one of the union’s principal demands, but employees have not yet received the full terms needed to assess the agreement. The bargaining team has not released the effective dates of the raises, the final pay schedules or the language covering regular salary steps. Those details could affect how the contract applies to workers at different pay levels.
The written provisions on health insurance, layoffs and contracting out also remain to be seen. SEIU says the tentative agreement makes no reductions to existing protections in those areas. Members will be able to examine the contract language when the bargaining team distributes it for the ratification vote.
In Southern Oregon, the outcome directly affects represented staff at Southern Oregon University and Oregon Tech. Both institutions negotiated as part of the same statewide group as the five other public universities, placing their employees under the proposed agreement despite differences in each campus’s finances and staffing.
SEIU’s bargaining team said it expects to release the full details, its recommendation and voting information later this week. It also plans meetings for members to discuss the contract before voting. No ratification result has been announced.
For now, employees remain on the job and the planned statewide strike is off. The tentative agreement will become a final contract only if the workers covered by it approve its terms.