What REALLY Happened At The Oregon State Hospital Today--And Onward To March 7!

State worker anger at the Governor's proposed budget and the state's position in union contract negotiations is reaching a slow boil in some state worksites. We have covered some of that, at least in rough outlines, here.

The Statesman-Journal is running an article about a state worker protest at the Oregon state Hospital here. So far as it goes, the article is generally correct in its reporting and most of its facts. What is missing from the article is context.

Workers at the State Hospital are represented by AFSCME, SEIU and the Oregon Nurses Association. AFSCME called a protest at the State Hospital today without coordinating or checking in with SEIU, which represents most of the workers. SEIU statewide leaders have called for protests within worksites this week in order to communicate workers' anger and test the depths of worker dissatisfaction with the Governor's budget and bargaining proposals, but they have not been ready to organize larger public protests.

Both SEIU and AFSCME scheduled bargaining reports at OSH today. Union member-leaders from SEIU essentially took over the meeting and announced the scheduled SEIU protest. An AFSCME staffperson gave a brief report that agreed with the SEIU bargaining report. The workers from both unions listening to the reports then marched on the boss in far greater numbers than union leaders expected and forced the boss to hear their complaints publicly. It took very little urging by union member-leaders to make this happen. In the process the workers created their own message, which coincides with SEIU's public position in general and with AFSCME's more public push to some extent. This is an important step for the workers to take and will help win better union contracts in the long run.

Worker anger is probably beyond what many union leaders have measured in many key state worksites. A typical stand taken by a DMV worker, for instance, was expressed in this way:

I...believe that this is crap. We have done our part before when we went without step increases and no COLA.. Now I am not willing to give up my medical insurance...Maybe the Governor shouldn't have given all of those great big raises and maybe he should give back more then 5%. I agree we should stand united on this. Furlough days must be office closures and as visible to the public as possible...whatever we give up will not be given back!!!!!

It has not reached a point yet where there can be a discussion of striking or taking more militant actions, but the anger is there. On the other hand, workers in AFSCME and SEIU are often not unified, even when they work together. The two unions have different structures and different timelines for their action plans. Action may spur unity at the worksite level in some places, but there are real pressures in worksites which push back against this. These problems need to be overcome.

There will be a labor solidarity event in Salem on Saturday, March 7 which should draw teachers and other state workers together. The state's strategy seems to have been to force teachers into competition with other state workers for available funding. Labor needs to reject this manipulative strategy. Details are not firmed up yet, but watch this blog for info.