As many may already know, the Governor had declared a state of emergency a while back but this morning I received word that the Oregon Department Of Corrections has decided to officially declare an Article 23 Emergency.
That language has been cut and pasted below for convenience. Highlighted & bolded are the relevant pieces that describes what specific areas of the contract that can be temporarily deviated from. The rest of the contract still applies.
For example – an employee who is a Counselor could be directed to help out in the kitchen (Change in Work Assignment). Employees could be assigned to work a different number of hours or shift than normal (Scheduling). Instead of strictly adhering to the Article 25 negotiated process for assigning Voluntary Overtime – they might temporarily fill OT through an All Call on shift instead of by the Voluntary OT call at home process for example (Overtime Scheduling).
ARTICLE 23 ‑ EMERGENCIES
Section 1
During periods of bona fide emergency, provisions of this contract regarding work assignments and scheduling, job posting, and overtime scheduling may be temporarily suspended by the Agency as required for the duration of the emergency. Appropriate notification of the emergency status will be made to the Union or designee.
Section 2.
Emergency is defined as an unforeseen circumstance which may threaten the safety and security of the public, inmates, employees and/or property.
This Section shall not be used by management to justify suspension of the above described contract rights to meet the daily operational needs in filling unexpected shift vacancies due to absences of scheduled staff which occur from time to time.