Solidarity Before Mediation

At 8 a.m. on Friday, September 25, we rallied outside City Hall — on short notice, before our bargaining team went into mediation with the City.

More than two dozen people came. Corvallis city workers, workers from Benton County and the City of Albany, and staff from Oregon AFSCME. Some of them work for other employers entirely and came anyway, because what happens to our contract sets the standard for theirs.

The Gazette-Times covered the rally and the session that followed. Local 2975 President Evan Newton told the paper: "The best way to avoid a strike is to prepare for one. We don't want a strike. We want to stay on the job and keep serving this community. But we need to do it in a way that is dignified for our members and our coworkers."