SALEM, OR – Understaffing, extreme overtime and lack of safety protocols are creating untenable situations in the workplace, based on member survey results released today by Oregon AFSCME in their report, Unsafe on the Job. The report was released as more than 100 members came to the capitol to share their stories and call for action.
The survey findings of more than 520 AFSCME members showed:
- 67% of members report some sort of physical violence, threat, trauma
- 65% report verbal abuse
- 36% report threats of harm
- 28% report trauma leading to PTSI or stress disorder
Additionally, nearly half of Oregon AFSCME members do not feel safe at work and 45% say there isn’t enough staff on a daily basis.
AFSCME members are employed at a variety of workplaces in every part of Oregon, including the Oregon State Hospital, the Department of Corrections, the Stabilization and Crisis Unit of ODHS, OHSU, local and city governments and non-profit behavioral health centers. Across all sectors, workers are feeling unsafe, and it’s getting worse.
“Every day our members go to work facing very real threats on the job because workforce shortages and the inability to recruit and retain staff is not keeping up with the realities of today,” said Joe Baessler, Executive Director of Oregon AFSCME at a news conference releasing the report today. “The levels of threats and injuries our members are facing are completely unacceptable and we are calling on the legislature to take action to make workplaces safer for workers and the people under their care.”
In the report and at the capitol, frontline workers shared their stories of the harrowing conditions they are facing. Behavioral health workers say there have been enough workgroups looking at understaffing and harm in behavioral health. The legislature must act.
“My coworkers have felt so unsafe they’ve resorted to calling the police—only to receive no response. This isn’t the reality most people imagine for municipal workers, but for me, it’s an everyday truth,” Laura McCay, a Waste Acceptance Technician in Lane County.
Oregon AFSCME is urging legislators to pass its suite of workplace safety policies and investments, which seek to increase safety and staffing in Oregon’s behavioral health system, improve staffing and safety for state workers, create safer hospitals, and improve Worker’s Compensation to increase healing. Union members vowed to continue pressuring lawmakers until meaningful reforms are enacted.
Read Oregon AFSMCE’s Unsafe on the Job report.
Oregon AFSCME is one of the fastest-growing unions in our state, representing more than 39,000 workers, spread across worksites in every corner of Oregon. Our membership works at OHSU, cities and counties, for the State of Oregon, in behavioral health, and other sectors. We work for the public good of our state and collectively our union fights for economic and social justice for our members, their families, and all Oregon workers.
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