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--> --> State workers ratify contract SALEM (AP) - Members of Oregon's largest public employees union ratified a new contract Monday that will give them a 5 percent pay increase over the next two years and continued full payment of their health-care premiums. More than 90 percent of the union's 18,000 members approved the contract. The union agreed to a reduced pay raise but wouldn't budge on health care. "The fully paid coverage is the mantra, the raised fist," union spokesman Bentley Gilbert said. "We're satisfied." Management won greater flexibility in paying workers for hard-to-fill jobs and in contracting out work to non-state laborers. The agreement also allows managers to renegotiate the health-care provision if medical costs exceed an average increase of $85 per employee per month. "We have competitive benefit packages and competitive salaries with the marketplace," said Karmen Fore, a spokeswoman for the Department of Administrative Services. "Both sides were pretty close throughout the process." The contract runs through June 30, 2003, and covers non-management workers in several large state agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, the Department of Human Services and the Bureau of Labor and Industries. The contract provisions don't affect employees' pensions. The agreement is expected to set the standard for the state's 10 smaller public employee unions, which represent most of the other 14,000 state workers. The 2001 Legislature approved $220 million to cover wage and benefit increases for union and non-union state employees in 2001-03. About $82 million of that will go toward the Oregon Public Employees Union contract. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing