When Push Comes to Shove

SALEM, OREGON

No one likes a strike. But sometimes there is no alternative.

With 10 months of bargaining behind them, and no progress in sight, members of AFSCME Local 2376 (Council 75) struck Oregon’s Department of Corrections on Oct. 11. The local represents about 750 non-security workers statewide.

“It wasn’t about money; it was about respect,” explains Local 2376 Pres. Randy Ridderbusch. For years the local had tried to make management listen to their concerns about their members’ safety, he says. Although they’re called “non-security,” many members supervise inmates.

Ridderbusch is a food service coordinator who supervises 25 to 50 inmates and hands them knives for their kitchen work. Management refused to consider these security responsibilities either through training or pay levels.

The strike was an enormous success. “Very few members went in,” says Ridderbusch. “People believed in it. We were running 15 picket lines around the state. The solidarity we felt from other locals was incredible.” The state settled in less than a week.

A labor/management committee will review the security duties of each member, and an eight-hour training program has been scheduled. There were a number of financial improvements, but the biggest gain is management’s response to members’ concerns.

Ridderbusch exclaims: “There are no words to describe the pride I have in my local.”