| In February we reported that the bargaining committee has continued to ask the employer to meet, but the Employer has not committed to bargaining dates during Session. We recognize some have concerns about workload during session and the need to balance the desire to reach a bargaining agreement with the need to ensure workplace expectations are met. However, the Union and your LA bargaining committee strongly believe that there are opportunities to continue bargaining even during session which would keep those impacts at a minimum. We continue to offer the opportunity to meet and negotiate with the Employer’s bargaining team both during session and after. Negotiating our contract is the only way we will reach an Agreement that provides the structure necessary to address issues as they arise. We will continue to push for responses from the Employer to move the process forward. Some of you are newer to your LA positions and have questions about bargaining, representation rights and looking for answers. Although we do not have a contract in place, your union is here to help and there are still rules in place for how the Employer operates in the workplace. The Employer must inform the Union of any significant changes in the workplace. This includes changes to the wages, hours, or working conditions of workers in the bargaining unit. If you are notified of any potential changes, or are aware of any changes that may have already taken place, please contact IBEW Local 89 at (360) 755-6900 or report an issue here. If you are called into a meeting that may be disciplinary in nature, or you believe may lead to discipline, you have the right to union representation. When the Employer informs you of the need to meet, or if you are already in a meeting and it becomes investigatory or potentially disciplinary in nature, you may request Union representation. This can be as simple as stating: “If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative be present at this meeting. Without union representation, I choose not to answer questions.” IBEW Local 89 staff are always available to answer your questions, you can reach the hall by phone or text message at 360-755-6900 or local89@ibew89.com or you can reach out to the Oregon Legislative Staff Business Representative Justin Roberts by phone or text message at 503-558-6438 or justin.roberts@ibew89.com. |
| Overtime Pay Issues Many LA’s are now finding out that they are eligible for overtime pay and should have been reporting overtime hours since the start of their employment. Poor communication with LA’s about working conditions, pay, benefits, or even basic expectations has been a common complaint about the employer, both at the bargaining table and in the workplace. In addition to being extremely frustrating for employees, lack of communication from the employer has led to confusion that ultimately has resulted in a lack of overtime pay for eligible employees and will now cause more effort on the worker in order to ensure pay is corrected.To be clear, employees eligible for overtime pay (normally hourly paid interns, LA1 or LA2) must be paid appropriately for any time worked over 40 hours in a week. Even if you have not tracked overtime so far, it is worth taking the time to determine any overtime hours you may have worked. If you did not track your hours, or if you don’t have an alternate way to determine your hours work each week, do your best to determine those hours, including speaking to your supervisor. Workers should be paid every dollar they have earned and it is vital that the legislature have a system in place that ensures people know when they are eligible for overtime. If you do not know if you are eligible for overtime, please reach out to Employee Services and ask them to confirm your eligibility. Union staff is also available to answer general questions at 360-755-6900.For those that have been asking, we do not know how these earned but unpaid wages that every office with hourly paid employees have already incurred will impact the ability of our offices to function in the best way possible for Oregon, but the legislature must make it right. Ultimately, this is exactly the kind of problem that could have been addressed proactively through our bargaining process, which the legislature continues to delay. We’ve done the work, and the Employer must correct Employee pay.If you have been affected by the overtime pay issue or have other concerns, please reach out to Justin Roberts at justin.roberts@ibew89.com or submit a Legislative Staff Issue Report. If you know someone that is not receiving Union communications that wishes to be added to the list, please have them reach out to Justin to be added to our email updates. In Solidarity, Your IBEW Local 89 Bargaining Committee |