EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- 63 Lane County nurses will not go on strike Monday morning as contract negotiations are back on track.
The unionized Lane County nurses, organized through the Oregon AFSCME Council 75, are planning to sit back down at the bargaining table this week to try to work out a new contract.
Originally, the group had planned to strike on Monday, January 23rd, 2012. At this point, that strike notice has been withdrawn.
The nurses involved work in the Lane County Jail, Department of Health & Human Services, and several area community health centers.
At the center of the debate is a proposed change in health care costs.
Lane County is trying to move the group of nurses to the same plan that is already in use by 1,000 of the county’s 1,400 employees.
The county says the switch will help it save $314,000 over the course of a three year contract.
Meanwhile, the nurses say the change would increase their costs, while not increasing their pay to go along with it.
In the last offer, Lane County offered nurses a 1% wage increase for the year 2013, one day of furlough and a co-pay plan or HSA plan for health insurance.
“We're encouraged that the county's willing to come to the table and stay at the table,” says Jim Steiner, an AFSCME Union Representative.
“They've agreed to provide us some factual information around utilization of the insurance plans that they currently have. We think that getting some more information, some fact based stuff will help us continue to move forward to try to resolve this, this insurance issue,” says Steiner.
The bargaining is slated to pick back up on Thursday, January 26th, 2012.
