August 28, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
Oregon state workers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 503 have voted overwhelmingly to approve a new four-year contract. The deal, which covers about 20,000 workers, will give them a 1.48% cost-of-living increase this December and a 2.75% raise in December 2016.
It will also raise pay by 6.95% in November 2016, so workers won’t lose income when the state ends a 6% contribution to their pension fund, and they begin making those contributions as pre-tax deductions. Workers also will have to pay a smaller share of health-care costs and gained the Friday after Thanksgiving as a paid day off. Read more
