Memory care workers at Rawlin prepared to strike

Plus possible action on NW Natural agreement, and 4J releases reopening plan

Workers at The Rawlin deliver strike notice

On Friday workers at The Rawlin memory care facility in Springfield delivered a ten-day strike notice to management after they refused to recognize their union. Workers are seeking immediate recognition of their union and one extra staff person per shift. If The Rawlin does not meet workers’ demands, they intend to go on strike Feb. 16.

Workers at The Rawlin, owned by Onelife, announced their unionization under SEIU 503 on Monday of last week with 85% of staff signing union cards and a petition to management. 21 residents at The Rawlin have in the last eight weeks, Eric Holmes an 18 year old med tech employed there, says it is because of understaffing, insufficient training, and not the right care. Workers additionally list high turnover because of low wages and traumatizing working conditions as their reason to unionize.

City to consider NW Natural agreement at work session

The City of Eugene lists on its agenda for Monday that they will be discussing and possibly take action on the NW Natural franchise agreement during its 5:30 PM Council work session. Climate advocates are demanding as part of this agreement the City ban construction of new gas infrastructure.

The agreement between NW Natural and the City officially expires on May 11. Previously the City has kicked the can down the road when it was time to deal with it. The agreement was set to expire on November 11, 2019, but instead of dealing with the contract the City passed three successive extensions.

4J Schools to reopen after educators are vaccinated

On Wednesday at the 4J board meeting board members voted to approve a reopening plan for schools. Students will return for on-site learning on a rolling basis two weeks after educators for their grades are fully vaccinated. Schools will open on hybrid basis, week-on/week-off. With Kindergarten and 1st grade educators receiving their first dose of vaccine last week, the district is predicting those grades will return on March 15.

Local links

  • Calls for Mike Clark to resign from City Council continue. At the January 25 City Council meeting three people provided public comment. Last week Sarah Lamog, who spoke at the January 25 public forum and describes herself as scholar of Authoritarian regimes and genocide, circulated around a petition calling Clark to resign, which has over 300 signatures.

  • Recently Oregon OSHA fined Springfield restaurant Along Came Trudy $9,215 for conducting indoor dining for several weeks in violation of the State’s COVID-19 laws. Despite this fine the restaurant has kept itself open for indoor dining.

  • Lane Community College Employee Federation, the union that represents classified employees at LCC, announced on Wednesday that it reached a tentative agreement with the college in its 2020 economic reopener. Among the terms in the agreement are a 1% compounding cost of living adjustment and up to 16 additional hours eligible for sell-back.

  • United Academics of the University of Oregon, the union that represents over 1700 faculty at the University, announced that they will begin bargaining on Tuesday. The union and university cut short their bargaining last year due to COVID and limited it to faculty FTE.

The week ahead

Tags