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Union representing Marion County workers prevails in labor complaint against county

Marion County Courthouse. (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter)

The union representing Marion County employees has prevailed in its unfair labor practice complaint against the county for refusing to allow employees to telecommute since July.

On Friday, Oct. 29 the Employment Relations Board sided with the Marion County Employees Union, which represents about 1,000 county employees, and declared Marion County had violated the law when it unilaterally called for employees to return to in-person work.

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD RULING

Union members raised concerns about Covid transmission at work and paid leave for employees who tested positive for the virus.

On June 30, county employees were given six weeks’ notice that they would have to return to work on July 19 unless they qualified for a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The union filed the complaint in September after union leaders said they tried for more than a year to get county leaders to put policies and procedures in place for workplace safety, telecommuting and hazard pay during the Covid pandemic.

“We conclude, therefore, that the county unilaterally changed a mandatory subject of bargaining when it decided to revoke the temporary telework policy effective July 19, 2021, without bargaining with the union, and when it implemented that decision before it bargained over the impacts of that decision on mandatory subjects that were more than (too trivial to merit consideration),” read the board’s ruling.

As a result of the ruling, the county must bargain with SEIU Local 503, a public employee union representing Marion County workers, over a resolution in the next 30 days. If they can’t come to a resolution, both parties will submit final proposals to the board, and it will decide.

Trish Straw, president of the Marion County Employees Union, said the union’s demands haven’t changed. They want a policy for telecommuting and hazard pay – the same demands they had when they wanted to bargain with county leadership.  

“We’ve already put two or three proposals together and I can’t imagine we’ll change from that,” she said.

Straw said there needs to be a policy on teleworking that’s fair and clear.

She said she felt “fantastic” that the union won its case, but part of her felt like it shouldn’t have come to a labor complaint.

“From the very beginning all we wanted was to sit down and bargain so employees could have a say and have clear directions on how to navigate this new world we’re living in. On the one hand, it feels good because we feel like finally, they’re going to be held accountable. On the other hand, it’s like, ‘Why? Why did it take this?’”

As a part of the decision, Marion County must email a notice to all employees and post in offices stating that it committed an unfair labor practice.

Chad Ball, Marion County spokesman, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected].

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