May 2026 Newsletter
Cost of Living Increase coming in July 2026!
All General and Nurses unit employees will receive 2.7% effective July 4, 2026.
Employees will see this reflected in the paycheck issued July 24, 2026.
Calendar Change
Due to a delay in receiving information about the International Convention, the June General Membership meeting has been moved from June 2nd to June 16th.
At this meeting, there will be nominations and elections for international convention delegates and local executive board seats.
The in-person meeting will be held at: 688 Charnelton Street in Eugene
The virtual meeting will held on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7390164335
County Wide Grievance Regarding Schedule Changes
On Tuesday, May 27th, Local 2831 sent out an email about a county wide grievance that has been filed on behalf of all members affected by the County reverting them from their approved alternate schedule to a Monday-Friday, 8-hour day schedule.
This change violates language in our AFSCME contracts that changing to a 5-day a week schedule during a holiday week is the employee’s choice.
We are aware that the schedule change has mainly affected members working in the clinics, but we have filed an information request to identify if other departments have been affected as well.
Please take a moment to tell us how you’ve been affected by this schedule change by filling out this short survey: https://forms.gle/mZALC3zVQBBz3hqCA
The Physicians are in Bargaining
The Physicians have been in bargaining since February.
To show your support, please wear green on Wednesdays.
Get Involved with your Union!
Do you want to get involved in your union but don’t know how?
There are several ways you can be involved with Local 2831!
Do you like green? You can display signs in support of AFSCME and you can wear green on Wednesdays. If you would like a sign or want to purchase a Local 2831 shirt, please contact us!
Do you enjoy communicating with your coworkers? You can become a Communication Action Team (CAT) member or join the Communication Committee.
Do you appreciate parliamentary procedure? You can attend the meetings or join the executive board. The dates and times of meetings are located on the Local 2831 calendar.
Do you like details and know the contractor inside and out? You could become a steward!
A Little Union History
Many of our union brothers and sisters have lost their lives fighting for worthy causes throughout history.
One of those bloody events was the Ludlow Massacre.
Starting in September 1913, southern Colorado miners went on strike resulting in 20,000 people being evicted from their mine owned homes. In response, the miner’s union, United Mine Workers of America, set up tents for the miners and their families to live in at different locations.
The biggest of these encampments became known as the Ludlow Colony which contained 200 tents and 1,200 miners and their families.
Between September 1913 and April 1914, the Colorado National Guard was deployed to the area to calm tensions on both sides but the guard was led by General John Chase who had been responsible for the suppression of the 1903–1904 Cripple Creek Strike.
On the morning of April 20th, 1914, the National Guard set up two machine guns on a ridge above the Ludlow Colony.
It’s unclear who fired the first shot, but the gun fight between the Colorado National Guard and miners lasted from 9:30 am to dusk. It was only when a train, manned by a local railway union member, deliberately pulled in between the National Guard and miners, that families from the camp were able to flee. The encampment was engulfed in flames by 7:00 pm when the guardsman began to loot the remaining tents.
In total, 20 union supporters were killed along with the three union men who were found shot in the back while one guardsman was killed.
A board of Colorado military officers went on to commended the "truly heroic behavior" of the National Guardsman and blamed the striking miners for the civilian casualties.
Following the massacre, came the Ten Day War across Colorado which resulted in the death of 50 more people and only ended when federal troops were sent and disarmed both strikers and mining company guards.