The 8,000 AFSCME-represented workers who keep Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) running knew what they were up against as they dug in to negotiate their new contract.
Their employer had been crying wolf for a long time, claiming they didn’t have money to give their workers the wage increases they deserved — despite the institution’s huge increases in revenue and net worth.
But as the White House made drastic cuts to higher education and research funding at the beginning of 2025, the Portland-based research institution and teaching hospital faced real financial challenges as well. The uncertainty, management told leaders of Local 328 (AFSCME Oregon), was real.
However, the workers who keep OHSU running — pharmacists, front-line health care providers, scientists, administrative staff and more — knew their value and were ready.
“It was a very tough fight,” said Jennie Olson, president of Local 328 and a research grant administrator at the university. “We agreed at the beginning that our goal was to raise up the lowest-paid workers at OHSU closer to what the MIT living wage standard is for Portland, Oregon. That’s $27 an hour.”
Their tenacity paid off.
In January, they ratified a new tentative agreement that brings many wins, including a $25 minimum wage by the end of the contract — very close to their target goal of $27 an hour — setting a new standard for the city of Portland.
And there were significant ratification bonuses for the workers as well: $4,500 for full-time employees and $2,250 for part-time workers.
And there were other improvements.
Retirement benefits were firmed up and now can’t be changed by their employer. They won more expansive leave benefits along with even more robust rights for workers — from job protections to time-off protections and more.
The new contract is a great example of workers who refused to waver and knew the critical value of their contributions to their workplace and community.
Their victory is another example of the union difference.
“When you’re not in a union, you’re just one person,” says Jennie Olson. “You’re at the will of management or a CEO. But when you’re in a union, you’re not one person. You can be 8,000 people, demanding to be paid with dignity, to have protections at the workplace. Being in a union is so profoundly different.”