Hello Educators,

Today was the first day of mediated negotiations. We spent some time establishing and understanding the process of mediation.

The District passed back six articles, one third of which had no changes from their last proposals. However, we were able to come to a tentative agreement on four articles (11 School Improvement Councils, 21 Mentor Program, 22 Professional Growth, 27 Evaluation).  

Near the end of the session we engaged in a productive small group discussion around safety and student support but it did not result in new proposals as of yet.

While many of the urgent issues have not yet been addressed, we are hopeful that a mediated bargaining process will rapidly lead to meaningful movement toward a settlement that avoids the need for escalating action up to a potential strike.

We will be in mediation again on Thursday, September 7 all day.

Remember to wear PAT Blue on Tuesday and wear your “Working without a contract” button every day. Parents and community members have shown interest in knowing what is going on and are offering their support by flyering at multiple Elementary, K-8, and Middle schools our most recent PAT flyers. Our families and community are standing up for Great Public Schools for All!

In Solidarity,
Your Bargaining Team
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell

Ryan Olds, OEA Staff
Angela Bonilla, President
Portland Association of Teachers
https://www.pdxteachers.org/

Hello Educators,

Today your PAT Bargaining Team took time out of the last planning day before students arrive to meet with PPS Management. Our state mediator asked both parties to bring as many articles as possible that could potentially be agreed to in order to get them off the table before official mediation begins.

Your team prepared five articles that we believed could be brought to agreement.  The District brought a single article on Early Childhood that is far from settlement (they struck out most of our proposal).   We ended the session with a single Tentative Agreement on Article 14 Parking.  This is not the progress needed to achieve a settlement and avoid a potential strike.  Bargaining Chair Steve Lancaster expressed frustration at this lack of progress: Youtube link (starting with Steve’s comments 1:13:00).

We are starting the school year with a frozen salary schedule, workloads that are far too high, and inadequate wrap-around services for students.  The issues are urgent as evidenced by the fact that Portland has now become the 2nd least affordable city in the country for a teacher to live in: Axios Article and the study it references.\

Given that today’s session ended with very little progress, we can only hope that the District team will come into mediation on Thursday fully prepared to engage on the urgent issues we are facing.  

Our community coalition will be at sites all this week sharing information about our bargain. Please wear blue and your “Working Without a Contract” button tomorrow and remind your colleagues to do the same.

In Solidarity,
Your Bargaining Team
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell

Ryan Olds, OEA Staff
Angela Bonilla, President

Portland Association of Teachers
https://www.pdxteachers.org/

PAT Members,

Your Bargaining Team met with the District today from 11-2:30 and tried to get as much completed as possible.  We have a Tentative Agreement (TA) for Article 14 Mileage, Parking and Procurement cards, but we spent much of our time discussing the District’s proposed Article 18 Transfers language. 

The District is proposing to get rid of the relatively minimal internal hire rights after involuntary unassignment.  We have major concerns about this proposal in the wake of about 250 PAT Educators unassigned last Spring.  Under their proposal, there would be no internal preference whatsoever, and all unassigned educators would compete against outside hires upon unassignment.  The District said this will help them expedite the process and compete against other districts for applicants. 

We pointed out the District has repeatedly failed to finish the internal rounds by March 1 as our contract stipulates and that meeting this timeline may address their stated goals.

We have more proposals to give to the District as we go into Mediation, including Special Education and Housing.  

During today’s session, President Bonilla made it clear that educators want to feel good about working in our district, that over 120 Association Representatives agree that our working conditions are unbearable and that we cannot continue with the status quo.

PPS’ team made it clear that they do not believe us, your union bargaining team representatives, by dismissing President Bonilla’s concerns with their response (40:14-42:58).

We have stated from the beginning, we do not plan to bargain this contract for several years. We are almost 1 year into negotiations with very little progress.  We do not want to strike, but without significant movement from the District over these next few weeks, we may be heading towards a strike.  We remain committed to a transformative contract for our members and will not bring back a status quo agreement to the membership.

The best way to avoid a strike is to prepare for one; our PAT member leaders are ready and able to help us win a strong contract.

Please wear blue and your “Working Without a Contract” button next Tuesday. We win this contract by empowering and supporting our membership and community so get ready; It’s going to be a busy few months ahead.  

In Solidarity,

Your Bargaining Team
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell
Ryan Olds, OEA Staff
Angela Bonilla, President

Portland Association of Teachers
https://www.pdxteachers.org/

Hello Educators,

After 150 days of bargaining failed to produce significant progress towards a settlement, on June 10th, PAT requested the assistance of a state mediator. Mediation is scheduled to begin August 31st and will continue on September 7th & 15th (see timeline below). 

In a continued effort to make progress on our outstanding issues PAT and PPS agreed to meet in advance of mediation for two bargaining sessions. We met today and will meet again on Tuesday, August 22 from 10-2 at the District Office. The parties hope to come to agreement on as many articles as possible before going into mediation over issues we are still divided on. 

Your bargaining team is deeply concerned that we will begin another school year with so many of the critical issues that affect our classrooms still unresolved.  We know that the beginning of a school year is stressful and starting with an expired contract does not help.  We are committed to securing the conditions we and our students deserve: The long overdue workload improvements, wrap-around services for students, and a cost of living adjustment at least equal to inflation. Your active engagement in the bargaining process, up to and including the possibility of a strike, will ultimately determine our success at the table. Thank you for all you have done and all that you will do in the coming weeks as we seek to negotiate a fair contract.

In Solidarity,

Your Bargaining Team
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell
Ryan Olds, OEA Staff
Angela Bonilla, President

Portland Association of Teachers
https://www.pdxteachers.org/

Hello PAT Members,

After 150 days of Direct Bargaining under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act process, PAT filed for Mediation with the Employment Relations Board Monday, June 12.  Under the Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act, unions with the legal right to strike must engage in direct bargaining for 150 days before they can file for mediation, which is a requirement prior to taking a legal strike action in Oregon. After completing the requisite 150 days, we remain far apart on our members’ biggest bargaining priorities.

As all of you know, we cannot wait for our schools to become safe, sustainable and equitable. Our students cannot wait any longer for Mental Health supports, Special education supports, or restorative justice. Our community cannot wait any longer for schools staffed appropriately. Our educators cannot wait for a reasonable workload. As we continue to build capacity and solidarity, we will continue to grow that power until it is unstoppable. We can win just like Woodburn won, just like Silver Falls won, just like education associations across the country have won. The time is now.

We look forward to continuing the bargaining process and hope a mediator can move us closer to agreement.  Last Thursday, we asked for more bargaining dates with the District in August and are waiting to hear back.

For more information about mediation, please see the copy of the PECBA Strike Permitted Bargaining Process. 

Hot Labor Summer

We will be continuing our organizing into the summer this year so that we can continue to fight for the best contract we have ever had.  We will be present in the Summer School programs and will continue Bluesday through the summer. Check out ways to stay involved and connect with community at https://www.pdxteachers.org/hot_labor_summer_2023! 

Next Steps
Our Contract Action Team will be meeting this Friday to discuss and plan next steps.  We will be meeting for 30 minutes on Friday, June 16th at 9:30am.  Please make sure your school has a representative on our Contract Action Team (CAT Team).  You can sign up here.  

Solidarity Forever
You all deserve time to connect and enjoy each other. Please make sure to come to Party in the Park on Thursday, June 15th at Laurelhurst Park starting at 3:45pm! We will have food, music, beverages, and community! RSVP Here

It has been a challenging year for our schools to say the least. Not only are you all standing up for what we know is right and what we deserve, you are all working as educators at PPS!  Our action and energy are felt throughout the city and state.  This work is hard and long, but we are well on our way to getting a contract that can transform our schools.

In Solidarity,
Angela Bonilla
President
Portland Association of Teachers
http://www.pdxteachers.org/

Hello Educators,

Yesterday, your PAT Bargaining Team met with PPS management for our 11th bargaining session. We gave the District counter proposals on the following Articles:

Article 6: Work Year
Article 7: Workday
Article 8: Workload
Article 11: School Improvement Councils
Article 14: Mileage, Parking, and Procurement Cards (P-Cards)
Article 17: Leaves
Article 21: Mentor Program
Article 22: Professional Growth
Article 23: Professional Educator Rights and Just Cause
Appendix L: Administrative Leave Letter Template

We also shared testimony from a community organizer related to our new Article: Supporting Students with Temporary Living Situations/Housing (Enrollment Stabilization Plan). President Bonilla made it clear: We aren’t asking PPS to become a rental agency. Our funding is tied to enrollment: We are asking that they plan long term about how we keep students in our catchment area. 

PPS management came without any proposals but did give counter proposals on Articles 11, 21, and 22 near the end of the day.

We said from the beginning we do not want to drag out bargaining for an extended period.  We are concerned that our pace of bargaining leaves open the possibility of extended bargaining and we cannot accept this while our schools are in crisis.  Please be prepared for more information on this shortly.

Many of you have already responded to the PAT Bargaining and Action Survey. Thank you! Your Bargaining Team will always fight for your priorities and the survey greatly informs our bargaining process. If you haven’t yet completed the survey sent to your PPS email, please complete it by June 15th. 

Get ready for our workplace action on Thursday, June 8!

We want all Portland Teachers to participate to send a message to PPS management and prepare our membership for the next steps in the bargaining process.  Please wear blue and be ready to walk in or walk out with your coworkers at Contract time. Sign the pledge that will be at your sites this week!

In Solidarity,
Your Bargaining Team
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell
Portland Association of Teachers
http://www.pdxteachers.org/

Hello Educators,

Today your PAT Bargaining Team met with PPS management for our 10th bargaining session. District Management gave us an updated Article 12 Compensation Proposal eliminating the year A step (first row of salary scale) which will raise starting salaries for new educators who join PPS. However it would do nothing to increase salaries for currently employed educators and leave those at the top of the scale near the bottom of comparable districts.  If you wish to recruit AND RETAIN educators, under paying your most experienced staff is not the way to do it.

They increased their proposal for a Cost of Living Adjustment from 2.5% to 3% each year of the contract; a minor improvement that is still far below the actual increase to our cost of living, and does nothing to make up for the erosion of our salaries that we have suffered over the past two years.  PPS paid an average of a 6% COLA to administrators; Why should professional educators settle for less?

Additionally, they have refused to make up the ground we lost on PERS.  Take a look at the PERS statement you have just received in the mail to see the actual dollars you have lost so far.  To make matters worse, their proposal also does not cover the cost of the new Paid Family Leave Insurance law and the 0.6% of salary out-of-pocket costs  that will be incurred for employees (effectively resulting in a pay cut).

Later in bargaining, we were joined by over 100 educators in blue who watched the parties discuss Article 7 (Work Day, Planning Time), and Article 8 (Workload, Class Size).  We are concerned that we continue to be given false choices by the District.  For example, we were told that an increase in instructional time would come at the expense of instructional minutes.  There seems to be no regard to the quality of instruction and the amount of time it takes to prepare for quality instructional minutes (unless you work for free).  We are being told that our class size caps would destroy the equity staffing model.  We believe it would enhance equity. We need small class sizes for EVERY student, and even more support for those historically underserved. News articles about West Sylvan, as Thea shared, are proof that our west side schools need support as well and not at the expense of other students.

If you are interested in getting involved, please join our first Contract Action Team meeting, 4:30, this Thursday at the PAT Office (345 NE 8th Ave, RSVP).  We will be bargaining with the District again on Monday, June 5 at the PAT office, starting with the District at noon.  Bargaining is always open to members and the public.  We hope you will join us and continue to fight for the contract our students and teachers deserve. 

In Solidarity,
Steve Lancaster, Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell
Portland Association of Teachers
http://www.pdxteachers.org/

Hello Educators,

Today your PAT Bargaining Team met with PPS management for our 9th bargaining session. Your team brought 9 counter proposals to the table today: Article 1, 2, 11, 12, 16, 19, 21, 22, and Appendix L. We were able to get a Tentative Agreement for Article 1.

Last session we were able to bring Early Childhood Educators to share their stories. Today, Emily Glasgow, Director of Early Learners, came to give a presentation on PPS’ Early Childhood Programs. 

We were excited to see the program will be expanding with 36 new slots in the Pre-K for All program expected to join us in Early Childhood (EC) next year. This includes adding two more Spanish Immersion Pre-K classrooms, one Classroom for Black Excellence and a plan for a Vietnamese Immersion Pre-K program. Each classroom is staffed to have 1 professional educator and 1.5 EA FTE. Every site has access to Family Service Workers, QMHPs, and Health and nutrition specialists.

Early Childhood educators have 12 pre-service days to plan, participate in professional development, and do home visits. They also have 10 “No Child Days” when they do assessments, planning and professional development. These are in addition to the 4 grading days we all receive under current contract language 6.5.2. Dr. Glasgow shared that there is very little turnover for Early Childhood educators. That left us wondering: Does the increased planning time, professional development, and time to connect with families make it easier for educators to stay in their positions in PPS? 

Even with additional planning time, we know that Early Childhood Educators are still not able to meet the needs of all their students. We heard from Early Childhood Educators there is a need for more mental health and social emotional supports to respond to the needs of our youngest students. Early Childhood programs need systems to address staff absences and emergencies to continue to maintain the required staff to student ratios. Dr. Glasgow shared that there are 2 QMHPS for the 13 classes across the 5 sites currently. These QMHPS are responsible for wrap-around supports with the school teams for all 872 students in these programs. This is not the same as a rapid response team supporting an urgent need at a specific site that is needed to support students with immediate needs. 

We responded to PPS’s offer of a 2.5% cost of living adjustment (COLA) by reminding management that educators must now catch up and then keep up with inflation.  Therefore we re-presented our initial demand for an 8.5% COLA up front.  Steve Lancaster explained the impact recent PERS cuts have had on our members and the need to make up for our lost retirement savings.  The average educator stands to lose tens of thousands of dollars in their Individual Account Plan (IAP) over the course of their career.  A pension is a promise and this promise is being broken by the cuts to our PERS.  Educators have accepted salaries that are lower than other professions partly in exchange for excellent health insurance and a pension that would allow for a retirement with dignity. PPS management can and should keep the pension promise that educators have relied on to retire and make certain that our educators’ pension funds are made whole. 

Our next session will be May 30th at PPS.  Join us from 4:15pm-5:15pm (or longer if you’d like!) in blue to show your support for safe, sustainable and equitable schools!

In Solidarity,
Steve Lancaster, Bargaining Team Chair
Francisca Alvarez
Samara Bockelman
Julia Fogg
Thea Keith
Charity Powell
Portland Association of Teachers
http://www.pdxteachers.org/