A dispute between Clackamas County leaders and its largest public employee union has many members wanting to walk off the job.
The Clackamas County Employees’ Association, which represents more than 1,000 employees, filed an unfair labor practice complaint with Oregon’s employment relations board on Jan. 6. They allege county leaders have used “bullying tactics” to force them to reach a contract agreement on the county’s terms despite ongoing negotiations.
The conflict has stemmed in part from a disagreement over cost-of-living adjustment pay and a more than $200 increase in monthly health insurance premiums among union members.
But union leaders say the frustrations go beyond that. The county cut five positions in July 2023 due to a project to replace the Clackamas County Courthouse. (The county later rehired one of the five employees, according to the union’s lawyer.)
The project is expected to cost more than $300 million. In 2021, the county estimated it would cost $189 million, but inflation and increased construction costs have made the project more expensive.
The association represents employees working in everything from the public health and juvenile department to parole & probation and the parks district.
“Our members serve some of the most vulnerable people in the County and provide critical services to keep the County operational,” Union President Alex Gonzalez said in a statement to OPB. “What we are asking for is a fair contract and parity with our co-workers and others in the County.”
Gonzalez says the association is not prepared to strike, but noted that “many members have expressed that they are ready to walk.” This is the third time the union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Clackamas County - Oregon’s third most populous county - in the last four years.
The tensions come months into contract negotiations between the county and union. The union’s previous three-year contract expired June 30, 2024.
Ryan Miller, Clackamas County’s employee labor relations manager, declined to comment on the specific disagreements, citing ongoing negotiations and pending litigation. He said the county “firmly believes that it has bargained—and continues to bargain—in good faith throughout the contract negotiation process with CCEA.”
Union’s complaint
According to the union’s complaint, the county emailed union members on Dec. 30, 2024, saying it would increase monthly health insurance premiums with Kaiser Permanente for union members from about $88 to about $303 if they did not reach a contract agreement by an end-of-the-year deadline.
The union had previously said it wouldn’t be able to ratify a contract before the county’s deadline because it had yet to reach agreements over certain proposals, including health insurance premiums, and “had never been notified that there would be a potential increase in those premiums,” according to the complaint.
In its Dec. 30 email, the county explained that because the contracts with the union hadn’t been finalized, it “must proceed using the same employee medical insurance premium calculation methodology as the current year, but with updated rates effective January 1, 2025.”
The union says the county’s actions caught members off guard, and its attorney told the county in a Dec. 30 email that it was an unfair labor practice because they didn’t have the opportunity to bargain before the increased premiums were deducted from staff paychecks.
“Association members remain confused and concerned by the County’s changing statements about insurance premiums and decisions about changing health care providers – without any notice,” the complaint said.
“The change took place over the holiday season, at a time of higher stress and economic strain to Association members,” the complaint continued.
Employees decry increased premiums
Gonzalez, the union’s president, says the increase “felt extremely retaliatory” to union members, more than half of whom use Kaiser as their insurance carrier. “A lot of our members have been put into a position of financial hardship – some even having to borrow money to stay afloat,” Gonzalez says.
County employees voiced their concerns to commissioners in public meetings in January. Mahala Baley, a service coordinator with Clackamas County Social Services, urged the county on Thursday to reconsider its decision to change the health insurance premium rates, noting that she had developed relationships with certain Kaiser providers for years as a patient.
“This has been powerfully impactful to our paychecks,” Baley told commissioners. “People are talking about the struggle that this is causing in their lives, and it has most definitely affected me.”
Clackamas County Chair Craig Roberts, who was elected in November, did not return a call seeking comment. The board of commissioners declined to comment for this story, according to Scott Anderson, a county spokesperson.
Miller said the county hopes to reach “a mutually acceptable collective bargaining agreement” with the union soon.
“By working together on this goal, we can ensure Clackamas County employees will continue to deliver the quality services our community members depend upon,” Miller said.
At the Thursday public meeting, Commissioner Ben West said: “It is not easy to sit up here and not be able to address concerns that relate to labor negotiations.”
He said the county intends to provide more clarity around its decisions in the future and told the public to “keep an open mind as things roll out.”
“I can speak for myself as a commissioner: There is no desire or plan to see some of these outcomes,” said West. “I wish they could have been avoided.”
