Evan Newton, president of AFSCME Local 2975 in Corvallis, Oregon, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the union's ongoing contract fight with the city of Corvallis.
Since January 2026, the union has been bargaining with the city, and a state mediator has been involved since June. Both sides have declared impasse and submitted final costing to the Oregon Employment Relations Board, but negotiations continue. Newton said the union has seen 75 percent employee turnover over the past four years. Its members work in public works, parks and recreation, the library, building permits, community development, finance, IT and other administrative roles. Rather than addressing the turnover, Newton said, the city has added management positions and given managers extra pay steps, while asking workers to accept a contract worse than the one they have now. The city is offering 12 percent in cost-of-living adjustments over a proposed three-year contract; the union is seeking approximately 14 percent and a new step on the pay scale.
Newton said management is already training managers to perform bargaining-unit work and is seeking temporary employees. As a result of the city’s actions, the union is gearing up for a strike if a fair contract cannot be reached.
- AFSCME Local 2975 represents employees of the city of Corvallis, who work in public works, parks and recreation, the library, building permits, community development, finance, IT and other administrative city positions. Over the past four years, there has a been a turnover rate of roughly 75 percent of the union employees, which Newton said is costing the city institutional knowledge and talent. The city's own policy describes it as an employer of choice, a standard Newton said management's bargaining posture actively contradicts.
- The contract dispute centers on wages, a new pay step and health insurance costs. The city is offering 12 percent in cost of living adjustments over a three-year contract. At a time when Johns Hopkins University research projects healthcare costs will increase 7 percent annually for the next several years, the city wants workers to pay more for health insurance. The union is seeking approximately 14 percent in wage increases and a new pay step comparable to what management recently granted itself. Newton described the last three to four contracts as representing a slow decay of union rights and benefits.
- The union has packed city council chambers with speakers and is planning additional city council appearances, recognizing that the real decision-making authority rests with the elected city council rather than the management bargaining team. Benton County AFSCME Local 2064 went on strike for five days in 2024 alongside Oregon State University graduate employees and Albany teachers, and Newton said that labor activity has prepared the community for what a strike looks like. SEIU Locals in the Oregon University system were on strike at the time of recording, and Oregon AFSCME Council 75 is providing support.
An Employer of Choice That Keeps Losing Workers
The city of Corvallis sits in Oregon's Willamette Valley between Salem and Eugene. It is home to Oregon State University and, for the workers represented by AFSCME Local 2975, a city government that describes itself in its own policy documents as an employer of choice. The reality Newton described is something different: a 75 percent employee turnover rate over the past four years and a management team at the bargaining table that has largely declined to engage with the union's proposals for addressing it.
Newton has been employed by the city for four years and is currently the President of the Local during this contract fight. The union has been bargaining since January 2026. A state mediator joined the process at the end of June after 150 days of direct bargaining. Both sides have since declared an impasse and submitted final costing to the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Talks are continuing, but the gap between what workers are asking for and what the city is willing to offer has led to months of frustration.
Who AFSCME 2975 Represents
The Local covers every city worker who is union-represented, except for police, fire and 911 telecommunications. Their members work in the public works department — those who clean streets, treat drinking water, treat wastewater and paint signs. Other members are in the parks and recreation department and clean parks and manage the complex realities of addressing homeless encampments throughout the city. This work, Newton noted, requires proper training, which the union is also fighting for at the table. Members are also library workers, building permit staff, community development planners, finance, IT and administrative staff supporting police and fire.
These are the workers who keep the city running. The 75 percent turnover rate means three out of four of those positions have cycled through new occupants over four years, taking institutional knowledge with them each time someone leaves.
The Contract Dispute: Wages, Steps and Healthcare
The two sides are far apart on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The city is offering a 12 percent cost-of-living adjustment over the life of a proposed three-year contract, but the union is seeking approximately 14 percent. The gap in raw percentage terms is not enormous, but Newton said the context makes it significant. The last several contracts have left the union with slightly less than the prior CBA. The management proposal would continue that pattern.
The pay step issue adds another dimension. City management recently granted itself additional steps on the pay scale as a retention tool. The union argues that if management identified retention as a problem worth addressing with a structural fix, the same logic applies to the bargaining unit workers who are leaving at a rate of 75 percent. Management has not accepted that argument.
When it comes to healthcare, the city is asking workers to pay more out of pocket for their health insurance. Newton noted that Johns Hopkins University research projects healthcare costs will increase approximately 7 percent per year over the next several years, which means health insurance premiums will rise regardless of the contract. Workers are being asked to absorb a higher baseline cost on top of projected annual increases, a combination Newton described as a “double or triple whammy,” hitting workers with rising costs while simultaneously offering a contract worse than the current one.
Newton also pointed out that the city's general fund budget has consistently come in better than projected over the past four budget cycles, with the city saving more than it initially planned. That pattern, he said, means the money to offer workers a fair contract exists, and the choice not to use it for that purpose is a deliberate management decision.
The Real Negotiating Table Is the City Council
Newton described a realization the union reached midway through the summer: the management bargaining team is not the real decision-maker. The city manager, who directs the management team, reports to the elected city council. The council ultimately controls what management is authorized to offer.
The union has responded by taking its case directly to the council. Members have packed the city council chambers. Speakers have addressed the council regarding the turnover rate, working conditions and the gap between the city's employer-of-choice rhetoric and the proposed contract. More council appearances are planned. Newton said the goal is to make clear to both the council and the broader Corvallis community how serious the situation is, and that the union will not accept a contract worse than its current one.
A Strike Is on the Table
Newton said management has begun training supervisors and managers to perform bargaining-unit work and is seeking temporary employees. He stated these are scare tactics designed either to discourage the union from striking or to reduce the operational impact if a strike occurs. The union is preparing for the possibility of a strike.
The labor environment in the Willamette Valley has a recent precedent. In 2024, Benton County AFSCME Local 2064 went on strike for five days. At the same time, Oregon State University graduate students represented by the Coalition of Graduate Employees went on strike, while teachers in nearby Albany walked out. This wave of labor action gave the community direct experience with what a strike looks like and how it unfolds.
Newton noted that the city of Albany was negotiating a CBA with its union. The city recently announced both sides reached a tentative agreement, and the contract is being sent to union members for ratification. SEIU Locals in the Oregon University system were on strike at the time of this recording. Newton added that Oregon AFSCME Council 75, which supported the Benton County strike in 2024, is actively engaged and ready to provide support for Local 2975 if the situation escalates.
Newton said nobody wants a strike, but reiterated the union will not accept a contract that continues the slow decay of rights and benefits that members. The members are tired of the fight, but have not knocked out. They hope they are near the finish line, but are prepared to go more rounds if necessary.
More information on AFSCME Local 2975 is available at afscme2975.org.
PRODUCER’S NOTE: FOLLOWING THE RECORDING, LOCAL 2975 HAS GIVEN NOTICE OF A STRIKE BEGINNING OCTOBER 14TH. NEWTON AND LOCAL 2975 HAVE STATED THEY ARE STILL BARGAINING IN GOOD FAITH, AND THEIR NEXT SESSION IS OCTOBER 8TH WITH THE CORVALLIS CITY COUNCIL. NEWTON STATED, "OUR GOAL IS TO ACHIEVE A FAIR CONTRACT DURING THIS SESSION."
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