October 3, 2024
From OSEA (Oregon School Employees Association) Chapter 28 Bargaining Team
More of the same! Our bargaining team has been negotiating since February 2, 2024, for a fair contract that will retain staff and best serve our cmmunity, families, and students. Our members earn severely less than most classified school employees in Oregon, but we take these jobs because we care deeply for students and the community. It has been disheartening to see Superintendent Matt Ellis and the District’s bargaining team fail to treat classified staff with dignity and respect during bargaining. Their latest proposal and public announcement is only more of the same.
Don’t be fooled by the District’s false narrative, which is intended to divide employees, pit us against each other, and put pressure on the union to roll over on fundamental rights like discipline and job security. Stand strong and stay united. Read more to understand what is really going on.
At a work session with the District on August 30th, we came to a conceptual agreement on financials. However, the parties agreed to continue bargaining over the remaining articles. The District said they would provide Google Doc versions of the articles to collaborate on, but failed to do so. We reached out on September 11th with reasonable offers to get this contract done. The District failed to respond. Without a tentatiave agreement on all articles, we cannot hold a ratification vote as required by our union bylaws.
On September 28th, the District released a new proposal to the public, against our ground rules, less than 24 hours after our bargaining team received the proposal. The District neglected to share that the proposal is contingent on OSEA dropping an unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint. The Association filed a ULP against the District due to its constant stalling, unresponsive offers, unlawful proposals, and direct dealing with members, in addition to Board Member Justin Aufdermauer’s 20 minute social media video rant degnigrating our union. All of this was done in violation of Oreogn Labor Laws. Read the complaint here. The District’s proposals still fail to comply with Oregon laws regarding “just cause” for discipline of employees and access to certain information that we need to do our jobs safely and protect students from harm.
The latest communication from the District is just more of the same behavior. It is a blatant attempt to turn employees against their union. The District is creating fictional deadlines in an effort to force a quick agreement to unreasonable and unlawful proposals. We won’t allow it. We will continue fighting for fair wages and the job security our members deserve.
We have mediation scheduled with a state mediator on October 17th. While the union has agreed to start as early as 8 am to get a deal done, the District’s bargaining team has refused to meet until 4 pm. This shows that the District isn’t willing to make this deal a priority.
Superintendent Ellis insinuates that OSEA is not allowing members to engage in the “democratic process of voting” on the proposals. This is false. OSEA has bylaws that require a ratification vote of our membership. We will aJways ensure our members have the final say by voting on a contract. Wewill not be strong-armed by false deadlines created by the District.
The District thinks it can force classified staff to accept a proposal that is less than the dignity and respect classified staff deserve and that fails to provide the full protections of the law. We won’t accept this for our members. We know our members stand together. We know our members are willing to fight for a fair contract. We know our members deserve dignity and respect. It is time TSD9 meets in good faith to settle a fair contract. Help us in telling them just that bv sending a letter here.
