News

Coming Soon To A Hospital Near You, Enhanced Healthcare Language Access for Oregonians!

In a significant step towards ensuring equitable healthcare access for all Oregonians, Governor Kotek has signed SB 1578 into law.

Oregon Legislature Passes Historic Investment in Public Safety Workforce

Salem, Oregon - Oregon's 82nd Legislative Assembly passed HB 4045, the Public Safety Workforce Stabilization Act, an historic investment in Oregon's public safety workers..

OregonSaves Welcomes Childcare Providers to State Retirement Program with $5 Million Boost from American Rescue Plan Funds

The Oregon Retirement Savings Board and State Treasurer Tobias Read today announced that $5 million of dedicated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars are being disbursed by Oregon's Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) to fund the OregonSaves retirement accounts of more than 900 Oregon childcare service providers.

2018 Short Session Review

Earlier this month the 2018 Short Session came to an end. While the session will mainly be remembered for what did not happen (Cap and Invest), there are some important things to inform you about. 

PERS:

Privacy Protection Vote

Important Vote For Oregon AFSCME: Privacy Protection Vote

Oregon AFSCME will be conducting a state-wide vote to change the Union's corporate status under Oregon law. Here is what this change will do.

AFSCME Strong Week Day One

Today, members across Oregon kicked off the state’s 3rd AFSCME Strong Week with a number of events designed to celebrate the union difference and help us keep building toward a brighter future for our jobs, our families and our communities. 

AFSCME Local 88 members were voting on their great new contract that will help keep up with cost of living, keeps health care expenses under control and takes a number of steps to make our work is respected every single day. 

Why Our Union Supports Measure 101

Oregon AFSCME stands in support of Measure 101, a ballot measure which is a fee on hospitals and insurance companies that fund Medicaid, and provides healthcare coverage for 1 in 4 Oregonians. Our Union endorsed support 101 for some pretty simple reasons and we wanted to make sure members understand why.

The "Freedom" Foundation Attacks Member's Privacy and PERS

Oregon AFSCME members have begun to be contacted by the Freedom Foundation. Their goal? Using misleading information to get union members to undermine their own ability to protect their pay, pensions, benefits and working conditions.

For years, the Freedom Foundation has pushed an anti-labor agenda in Washington state and now, they have their sights set on Oregon. We have the power to stop this assault on our collective voice but to do so we must understand what we’re up against.

AFSCME and AFL-CIO Step Up to Assist Member

 On July, 13th, Oregon AFSCME member Zola Neal and her partner narrowly escaped an apartment complex fire in NE Portland, just blocks from the union’s Portland office. While, lucky and thankful to escape unharmed, the couple did lose all of their belongings in the fire and without renter’s insurance, their situation was even tougher. Zola’s community stepped up for her, creating a GoFundMe page and assisting her with housing and support.

Executive Board Names Stacy Chamberlain Executive Director

On July 29th, the Oregon AFSCME Executive Board officially dropped the interim title and named Stacy Chamberlain  Executive Director of Oregon AFSCME. 

New Law Preventing Double Coverage Insurance

In the final days of session, the Legislature passed a bill that they referred to as a “Cost Containment” bill.  The bill had many provisions but, one that received very little scrutiny and no public hearing was a provision to no longer allow two public employees that are covered under either the state healthcare benefit plan, PEBB, or the school district health plans, OEBB, to both be covered as dependents of each other.  While the bill had several good things and some that caused concerns, we opposed it due to the elimination of double coverage for members.  As soon as we heard rumo