Sean's Plans as President
Our union and members have become marginalized by our employer. We have allowed our employer to abuse us with understaffing, under payments, unfair policies, and our union has been pushed to the side while it happens. We should not have to be fighting for a seat at the table as our employer cuts our benefits, it should be a given that our voice is heard at our Board of Directors meetings, our EBC meetings, OHSU’s committees, and at the bargaining table. We have let our union and labor power wane in an effort to appease a company that will not hesitate to fire 500 employees while turning around and spending millions on new buildings and constructions. Our union is standing by and watching as our employer attempts to replace our labor and members with AI and technology that fails to provide the high level of patient care that our members give every day.
Change starts within our union. We have let our policies get in the way of taking care of our members. Our current union executives worry and care more about punishing union members who step out of line than protecting the members who are being bullied and harassed every day in their job. Our members should feel comfortable voicing their concerns and opinions to our union leaders without fear of retaliation. Our union leaders should be reaching out and having a discussion and open dialog with members about their needs, wants, and fears. Our members should be the ones voting for our policies, our dues cap, and being engaged by their union representatives. Our union should have a presence in our workplace and it should be expected that at any time there are AFSCME reps and members on campus fighting for our rights.
Our executive board meets once a month and votes on critically important measures and spending for our union and we should be including the membership in these decisions. This is why I fought so hard to make bargaining open and streamed, why the membership meetings are recorded for those who can’t make it, and why I believe our board meetings should be publicly available and streamed for members. Our members have a right to see the work their elected officials do, and to hold their elected officials accountable to their actions. For too long our union has made backroom deals and closed door decisions that drastically affect us all, and I truly believe our members deserve transparency and accountability to the decisions being made. Every member should have the right to find out what their dues dollars are being used for. As an example, did you know our union spent 15 thousand dollars on paid mediation between our president and executive committee? 15 thousand of your hard earned dues dollars spent with no accountability, no transparency, and nothing to show for our members who can barely afford food, medicine, and housing.
To me, this is unacceptable. Our union leadership has become insulated within itself and now fights for what they personally believe and want, and not what our members need to survive. I want to be president to fight not for what I want, but for what all of our members need. Every member deserves to be represented equally, whether you are physical therapists, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, ITG workers, CNA’s, EVS workers, food and nutrition workers, PAS workers, remote or in person. Our union should be supporting all of our members, not just those who are in power.
In order to make this union as powerful, strong, and present as we need now; I am asking for your vote for me for president.
For Bread and Roses,
Sean Bovett
Come back soon to read Allison's plans as Vice President
Trisha's Plans as Secretary
Foundational Structure Builds Continuity
I strongly believe that our Local’s growth and the Covid pandemic revealed a dangerous lack of accessible historical archives and structural continuity between seated Boards. This lack leaves each new incoming group with the huge task of building from scratch every time with only the outline of a meeting schedule and our Constitution and Policies. Our Constitution has not been updated and presented to the membership to review in more than a decade, our policies are a jumble of emergency driven rules or personal agenda driven restrictions that have little practical usability, and our documentation is a siloed jumble of disorganized drive folders that are cross shared without clarity or purpose. I want to be clear that I do not say any of this to cast blame on previous member leaders, each seated Board is packed with people who WANT to do “all the things” but we have been lacking a cohesive and united group focused on specific goals with achievable plans – our Local needs to be capable of producing actionable work that moves our goals forward, otherwise they are just aspirational words.
When I submitted my application to the Board to take on the role of Vice-President, I stated honestly that I NEED our Local to build a stronger more capable and more aggressive association to match the size and power of our Employer – I need that for myself – and I know thousands of us need that too. I have attempted with every action in the last 13 months to help move our Local in that direction.
My primary focus and goal for my union work with Local 328 is finalizing the implementation of OnBoard, an administrative Board management tool I championed this year for assisting our Executive Board with the structural management of tracking projects, holding secure meetings, building a shared repository of resources, and more easily passing on the knowledge and history of our Local through election cycles.
I worked with the Labor Relations Group to review and understand where our data was not matching the Employer’s data for tracking how our stewards were recording and tracking our time use well. We corrected mistakes made by timekeepers and stewards; we changed Kronos codes to help build better clarity and the next steps in that project are creating better educational resources directly targeted for both timekeepers and stewards to help clarify and lower the number of mistakes.
I served to support the Dues Cap ad-hoc committee in their work to wrangle with our dues structure, I believe as a Local that our current structure is unfair and regressive. The blunt truth is that our least privileged members pay the most by percentage in dues, and our most privileged employees are resistant to change that impacts their financial position. I think it is understandable that a change in how the dues are collected feels threatening and unfair if you are a member that will be impacted by a change – and it is the job of the Executive Board to move the needle of equity for the entire association. We need to do a great deal of work in education, in transparency around our financials, and in bringing the membership to consensus on the best way to do that work.
My personal hope is also to get the time and resources to fully implement a solid steward mentoring program within the Steward Program. We have put a lot of effort into the original training support for new stewards which is designed and presented by the state council; we need to keep moving forward on making sure graduates feel connected to the different opportunities for service within the local - primarily in supporting members directly through representation, in organizing and supporting work units, and administrative tasks helping other stewards in the representational and organizing work.
Who I Am
I grew up in a very union connected family. From tradesmen like my home building carpenter uncle to professionals like my mom and aunt - teachers; community always meant our locals sponsoring sports teams, running fundraisers for families impacted by emergencies, and fighting for wages and benefits for each other in solidarity.
I moved in my twenties to Phoenix AZ, which is a “right to work” state. I experienced so many honestly horrific workplace conditions across multiple industries – it very much drove home to me the value of a union, regardless of the work being done. I do not believe that “white-collar” professional jobs don’t need unionism – I think every single level of employment should have unionized protections and solidarity for workers in it – no worker should endure abuse for a wage that barely allows for subsistence survival in one of the richest countries on the planet. Full-time work, even if it is allocated in part-time positions, should ensure every American worker a living wage, the ability to access basic social services like education, healthcare, and a reliable municipal infrastructure – without restrictions or limitations.
For me, involvement in my union shop means community and connection; it means having access and support in learning how to advocate for others, how to pressure our Employer to do the right thing, and how to support each other through systemic failures and life challenges. I’ve spent the past year as Vice President trying to understand how and why our Local is struggling in its identity and purpose. I’ve worked to find solutions and tools that would help the current leaders build a cohesive structure and re-establish a functional foundation for the future. This team of member leaders I am running with all have come together with common goals for building out a Local that is connected to our members where they are in their communities and in their employment. We believe in building power together to fight for the workplace we all deserve, we believe in solutions engineering focused on fairness for our members, and we believe in a union that focuses its energy on the purpose of enhancing the lives of all in the labor movement.
What I would Bring as Secretary
I have a broad and eclectic education and working history. I have wrangled dudes in working ranches in the American Southwest, audited thousands of tax records for multiple states, and supported dozens of technical systems for municipal and private institutions. I started my education in Journalism, wandered through computer programing and achieved a BS in Information Technologies with a focus on adult education and experiential learning. (Thanks to the original OHSU OR state tuition discounts) At OHSU I have served as a Call Center Operator handling hundreds of calls a day, including emotional patients, emergency calls, and clinician paging. Thanks to being able to finish that education I moved on to being a Trainer, building education materials and an onboarding for new employees, then I moved to supporting the applications used by our credentialing services and our Epic databases. I am currently an analyst in the School of Dentistry supporting the specialty equipment and software we use to serve our Dental patients and students every day. I know how to listen to people’s needs and work to help them find the solutions that make their lives and efforts more efficient and reliable. I understand the structure and operations of OHSU, I believe I bring a highly valuable ability to communicate clearly and a belief in the institution and what it can be that is appreciated by all – even when I disagree with how we all go about doing that work. I have served on the core Labor Management Committee in multiple sessions and fully support and believe in the achievement of early Executive Board and Bargaining Team work that created and sustain the Center for Workplace Enhancement – I strongly believe it is one of the most beneficial opportunities for our represented members. I have had the privilege of acting as a delegate to the International AFSCME and the AFL-CIO conventions, those experiences have given me access to education and resources from other labor communities that have shaped what I believe our union could be. I have served as a long-time steward, representing hundreds of members through stressful situations, and I have worked on previous Boards as an at-large member. I believe this history gives me a perspective on those foundational needs for our Local and the skills to help support this slate of candidates in reaching the goals each role has set for the association’s future.
Brianna's Plans as Treasurer
Union Roots and Values
I grew up in a proud union household. My mother was a county nurse and a committed union member, and my grandfather was an electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). I can still picture the union hall—smelling of coffee and old wood—filled with the sound of kids running down the hallways while the adults handled business. I remember the picnics, the pancake breakfasts, and those simple, joyful moments when our community came together in solidarity.
Those early experiences taught me that a union is more than a contract—it’s a living, breathing community that looks out for one another. That’s why I’m committed to making sure our union not only survives, but thrives and grows stronger over the next 5–10 years.
Transparency and Member Engagement
Transparency is at the heart of a strong union. Our AFSCME Member Bill of Rights makes it clear—members have the right to review all financials at any time. I believe that right should be more than a line in a document—it should be an everyday reality.
That’s why I will establish a standing Financial Committee dedicated to keeping members informed and engaged. This committee will make financial information easy to access and understand, create open lines of communication about how our money is used, and invite members into the conversations that shape our financial future.
The reason is simple: there are real questions about where dues dollars go. You deserve clear, timely, and honest answers—every time.
Fiscal Goals and Priorities
First
We need comprehensive fiscal transparency. OHSU needs a role model in financial accountability, and our union can lead the way. When members know exactly where every dollar goes, it builds trust, strengthens solidarity, and makes us harder to divide.
Second
We must establish a strike fund. Right now, we don’t have one—something many members don’t realize until it’s too late. A strike fund isn’t just for the next contract fight in three years—it’s for every fight after that, in six, nine, and twelve years. It’s an investment in our bargaining power and our ability to stand strong without fear of financial ruin.
Third
We need a legal defense fund. OHSU violates our contract far too often because they know there’s little consequence. Since 2020, we’ve only taken them to court a handful of times, despite many violations. With a dedicated legal defense fund, we can take action every time they break the contract—and follow through until we win.
These goals aren’t optional—they’re essential. These goals mean we stop playing defense and start taking the lead. They mean we protect our contract, our wages, and our future.
Building for the Future: A Union Hall
One of my long-term goals is to secure a union hall—a true home for our membership. A place where we can gather, organize, train new leaders, and build the kind of solidarity you can feel the moment you walk through the door.
Getting there will take careful financial planning, stronger revenue streams, and the support of our members for smart, strategic investments in our future.
Right now, our union has over $3 million in reserves. That’s a solid position, but at our current dues rate, we won’t be able to sustain operations beyond the next couple of years without making adjustments. If we start planning now, we can secure not just a building—but a lasting space where our union can grow stronger for decades to come.
Experience, Preperation, and Plan
I bring a strong mix of professional financial expertise and hands-on union leadership experience to the role of Treasurer. I’ve managed bookkeeping and financial planning for my family’s business, and worked in regulatory reporting for RBC Capital Markets after the 2008 economic crisis—implementing Dodd–Frank requirements, supporting Volcker Rule compliance efforts, and working directly with the SEC, FINRA, and the Federal Reserve. I’ve strengthened my union skills through training, including the AFL-CIO Oregon State Budget workshop, “Budgeting During Challenging Times” at our last International Convention, and the Oregon AFL-CIO Strike School. I also intend to work closely with our current Treasurer, Clair Irvan, to ensure a seamless transition, and will complete New Treasurer Training as soon as enrollment opens, so I’m ready to serve effectively from day one.
CG's Plans as Chief Steward
CG's Background
The problem is that CG had all of this education about how to provide support and create and develop meaningful change and no where to use it. They were doing scheduling for a research team at OHSU at the time, and the work that we didn't feel impactful. That's when CG chose to be a steward. They'd gone through the Employer's punishing systems and they knew that they could help other people. Due to their experience having to file grievances for discrimination going the Employer's "investigatory process", CG was able to become a staunch advocate for marginalized community members across the institution. They quickly became the lead grievance Steward for AFSCME 328 maintaining a exceptional case clearance rate an educating numerous stewards on how to manage a successful grievance. After 2 years supporting the steward program in a leadership role, CG is undoubtedly the most qualified person to step into the position of Chief Steward
Steward Communication Structure
Stewards are the response team of our union acting as conduits of information, advisors of contract provisions, and representatives in circumstances of concern like investigatory meetings and grievances. Our union has 8,500 represented positions and about 230 stewards, meaning we have roughly one steward for every 37 workers. As a result of this ratio, it’s common that members don’t know who their steward is or where to go for assistance and guidance. Therefore, CG is proposing a remodeling of the steward program by setting up a centralized structure, allowing for direct responses across all levels of the hospital and university, ensuring that our members are getting the representation they deserve and are entitled to by law.
1:1 sUPPORT FOR eVERY sTEWARD, AT eVERY lEVEL
As an experienced trainer, CG has also talked to many potential and new stewards who want to get more involved, but aren’t sure how to proceed after initial training. What are the next steps? CG wants to answer that question by having the steps planned out before new stewards even leave training. This ensures they are connected to a Lead Steward who will act as a mentor and guide to help folks continue to gain confidence and skills. Even the Leads will have a support structure with Senior Leads that report back up to the Chief Steward. This way, everyone has a clear plan of support from the newly trained to the highly experienced. All stewards will support each other at every level. All stewards will encourage learning and growth at every level. All stewards will acknowledge efforts and successes at every level. All stewards will revisit areas of improvement at every level.
Stewardship Beyond the Contract
Most of our members are familiar with stewards by having one represent them in an investigatory meeting or a grievance, direct representational work that defends the contract. But what if this type of work isn’t for you? That's why, as a part of this planned new structure, CG has built out different steward committees including those that would focus on contract education and training, support for members in emergency or in at-risk situations. CG's goal with the steward program is not to defend members individually, but to build a vibrant, inclusive community with a robust support structure that is ready not only to defend the contract, but to give stewards and members a sense of true belonging and ownership in 328. This is our union, let’s revive 328 together!