JoCo NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE
Source: OREGON AFSCME e-lert #1, Jan. 11, 2008
You'll recall that last fall, the union won a major Unfair Labor Practice award against Josephine County. The Oregon Employment Relations Board found that the county had privatized over 100 mental health workers in retaliation for Local 3694's four-day strike in early 2006. The vast majority of Local 3694's bargaining team and strike activists worked in JoCo Mental Health.
ERB's order (.pdf) said the county had to rehire all those employees, make them whole for any lost wages and benefits, reimburse Council 75 for lost union dues and pay a $1,000 civil penalty. The last item doesn't sound like much until you understand $1,000 is the maximum fine the law allows ERB to issue. Overall, the penalty was -- and is -- a very big deal.