Market Study Bargaining
During the collective bargaining process in 2024, three members researched how their positions compared to similar positions in other cities and brought what they found to the bargaining team. During bargaining the City stated that they wanted to look at a broader set of positions in a market study so that any increases to salary ranges would be more equitable. WilMEA/Local 7070 and the City agreed to revisit the discussion in an expedited bargaining process in early 2025. The expedited bargaining process began on March 10, 2025 and will occur over a 90-day period as required by state law.
The market study will compare members’ wage ranges to the wage ranges of similar positions in similar cities. Where the study shows that Wilsonville’s wage range is lower than that of comparable cities, the union will have an opportunity to bargain for a higher wage. We will not be able to bring every position to the table and there are a lot of different positions to research, so to prioritize which we will bring to the City, union officers are using the following methods:
-
Bringing the three previously identified positions to the table.
-
Examining the survey that many members completed in 2023 and pulling out positions that indicated financial concerns for further research.
-
Looking at the lowest salary ranges in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for further research.
-
Using the feedback from the members who reached out in response to our call in February 2025.
Bargaining Updates
We aim for clear, transparent communication with members. Bargaining updates will be posted here. We will also aim to email them out and post them in person as we are able. A full one-page rundown is linked to the buttons with each update.
March 10, 2025
-
The HR Manager said the City was open to considering other comparable cities that the union may suggest.
-
We spent a good deal of time talking about the size of the study - how many positions we would like included in the study versus how many the City would like in the study.
-
The City and Union agreed that positions which are shown to be currently above market in the study will not suffer any pay loss.
March 26, 2025
-
With respect to comparable cities to use for this study,there was considerable discussion about the fact that we have been using the same eight (8) cities for thirty-two (32) years. This prompted a productive discussion about specific data points (city size, proximity to WV, budget, FTE, hiring challenges etc...) that are useful to consider for making any changes.
-
Similarly, we had more granular discussion with the city regarding how best to arrive at a bargained agreement with respect to the specific positions (classifications) to be included in the study.
-
Finally, we reached a conceptual agreement to develop a short Job Questionnaire form for use by those in selected classifications.