AFSCME has made it official. Yesterday, the City of Corvallis acknowledged the union had served them with a 10-day notice of an intent strike.
“Per the notice, union members intend to strike on October 14, 2026,” says a release from the City. “The union represents about 246 employees across all City departments.”
The strike notice is required by state law, it follows a declaration of impasse from AFSCME last month, as well as a 30-day mandatory cooling-off period. Negotiations have been ongoing since January. The union’s contract expired on June 30, and Oregon’s Employee Relations Board, or ERB, is now trying to mediate.
“The City has been developing a strike contingency plan since the union declared impasse on September 1 and took a strike authorization vote, to minimize impacts for the Corvallis community and maintain core services. More information will be shared ahead of the strike so the community can understand potential impacts to City services and programs. Some impacts will be unavoidable, based on potential staffing level reductions in departments.”
The City has offered a three-year contract that includes a 6% cost of living increase in the first year, a 3% cost of living increase in the second year, and a 3% cost of living increase in the third year.
The union says it’s seeking an initial bump for all workers of 2% plus a 4% cost-of-living adjustment, a total of 6% for the first year. The raises for 2027 and 2028 would be 3% and then 5%, respectively. The cumulative bump would be 14%, the City’s plan would shave two percentage points off that.
The union is also seeking an added opportunity for a longevity raise, presently there are six steps available for longevity increases, the union is seeking a seventh. At a Corvallis City Council meeting last month, union members pointed out that city management gets nine opportunities for these raises – we have not independently verified that.
Both the City and union have been required to hand the state costing information for their proposals. The City says they are projection their proposal will cost $7.8. Million. The union projects their own proposal will cost the City $8.5 million. However, the City says the union is underestimating, that in fact, AFSCME’s proposal would cost $10.4 million.
The labor negotiations come as the City grapples with a projected $8.1 million deficit come the next biennial budget.
Current contract proposals from both parties are available for review on the ERB website: https://www.oregon.gov/erb/Pages/FinalOffer.aspx
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