Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees Local 88 have ratified a new four-year contract with Multnomah
County.
The contract — retroactive to July 1 and expiring June 30,
2011 — was ratified by 88.5 percent of the union’s membership.
Local 88 represents about 3,000 county workers.
Local 88 members will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)
of 2.7 percent for the current year, retroactive to July 1. Bargaining
unit members will receive an annual COLA of between 2 and 5 percent
on July 1 each of the next three years; the exact amounts will be
determined by the Portland-area Consumer Price Index.
Health care benefits and premiums will remain the same through Jan.
1, 2009. In the interim, a new labor-management Employee Benefits
Team will form and review health care coverage. The Employee Benefits
Team will examine current plan designs and cost-sharing to take
place in 2009. If the team cannot come to an agreement, a default
plan has been agreed to. Another team will make recommendations
by Sept. 1, 2008 for 30-hour per week employees at the Multnomah
County Library.
The agreement also allows Local 88’s president to access the
county’s e-mail system to send communications to union-represented
employees, it allows the use of up to 24 hours of vacation time
per year for emergency situations and preventative medical and dental
appointments and declares that letters of reprimand older than two
years will not be counted in disciplinary actions.
