Scott's blog

With so much focus on the economy and bargaining, I've been a little lax in pursuing some of the other areas of interest around SEIU Local 503. Actually, I have been following them, I just haven't been covering them on the site.

Right now, everyone is working very hard to address the upcoming budget woes. They're planning the contract negotiation campaign. It all sounds great. Everyone working together for the good of the membership.  read more »

Message for you sir!

We have a message for you Governor Kulongoski! We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to take it any more!

We all realize that times are bad. Really bad. We know you're in a tough spot. We get it! But you just can't fix this problem by putting the burden on the public employees. The numbers just don't add up.  read more »

Before I was forced to take some time off for a personal emergency, we were on-track to signing a tentative agreement that, while not perfect, was far better than I had ever expected we could negotiate for the coming biennium. Now, upon my return, I discover that DAS "made a mistake." The offer is off the table, and a new one, with 10 mandatory furlough days, sits in its place. What happened?!!?  read more »

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday season.

It has been an interesting month. First I was away for some scheduled time off. Then I returned just in time for to be blocked in by all of the snow and ice. Between the two events, I wasn't at the office for almost a month. It makes me glad that we had a good contract negotiation in 2007--we kept all of the vacation time, got our Personal Business, etc. I'm sure that a lot of people had to use some of that time.  read more »

I can think of a couple of things I am thankful for this year.

First, I'm thankful that the elections are over! I get so incredibly sick of the ads and the mailings. It's almost as bad as the Christmas music that starts well before Thanksgiving, and never ends!  read more »

Things don't look good on the Measure 64 front. The results are still unofficial, but right now they're showing:

Yes Votes 723,351 50.45%
No Votes 710,409 49.55%

I know that Measure 64 is bad. It will hurt the union. It will hurt other worthy charities.

But has anyone looked at the positive effects that could come from this?  read more »

In the not too distant past, the members of SEIU 503 were betrayed by someone within the organization. Ron Wiggins, one of our organizers, took a position with the HR group at the Department of Human Services (also known as the Department of Moral Superiority). That's right, one of the people supposed to help protect our members rights is now working in direct opposition to us.  read more »