Weekly Legislative Update 2.9.23
Thursday, February 9th, 2023
We have an important update about one of the bills on our legislative agenda that impacts thousands of Oregon AFSCME members.
On Thursday, February 2, members from the Oregon Department of Corrections, the Oregon State Hospital, and the Stabilization and Crisis Unit (SACU) testified on behalf of Senate Bill 631, which would limit the amount of forced overtime certain 24/7 State employees can be required to work without penalty.
Right now, these 24/7 employees are being forced to work 16-18 hour shifts, sometimes multiple times per week, because of the staffing crisis that our state agencies are facing. Our state cannot continue to bandage this crisis on the backs of our members. SB 631 would give them their lives back and allow them to better serve their communities.
We asked for written testimony from our members on this issue just days before the hearing. Stories of forced overtime abuse flooded in from all over the state, and we submitted dozens of them to the House Committee on Business and Labor.
Watch the testimony of Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Stacy Chamberlain as she describes how mandatory overtime abuse is impacting workers in some of our most vulnerable state agencies:
In other important news: SB 599, which protects in-home childcare providers from rental discrimination, also had a hearing on February 2. Oregon AFSCME lobbyist Debbie Koreski testified on behalf of childcare workers across the state to ensure that they cannot be denied a rental agreement based on the fact that they plan to operate childcare facilities out of the home.
Oregon AFSCME is committed to the safety and well-being of all workers, and we will continue to fight for better working conditions and protections for our members.
