To PAT Colleagues,

Last night we sent a ballot to your pps.net account to cast your vote on the proposed furlough/ Work Share plan PAT has been discussing with the PPS District. 

Below are the links to related material including the results of a "yes" or "no" vote. If you did not receive your ballot, please check your pps.net “junk folder” or contact [email protected] for assistance. 

Substitute members will not receive a ballot as they will not be affected by this proposed furlough/Work Share plan. We are currently updating our Q&A page for substitutes and will have more information here soon.

Only PAT members will receive an email to vote; if you are not a member and would like to join so that you may vote, please contact Jennifer Dixon at [email protected]. 

Please see your ballot for the draft version of the MOA.

BALLOTS MUST BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN 5:00 p.m. TODAY, Tuesday, May 5th, 2020.

• Results of Yes or No Vote
• Example of Pay for PAT Employees
• FAQ's re PPS's Work Share Program (from PPS site)
• Info re Oregon Work Share program (from state website)
• FAQ's re Oregon Work Share program (from state website)

Dear Educator,

We are inviting you to a tele-town hall all member meeting to learn more about the Work Share plan we communicated earlier with you about. After many discussions, PPS has agreed to keep members whole. In other words, if an individual has their workweek/salary reduced and they are rejected by Work Share for any reason, they will be returned to their previous work schedule and receive their lost wages. 

Only active, dues paying members of PAT that are regularly employed educators, not our substitute members, will be able to vote and be invited to the call.

The member meeting will take place by telephone on Monday, May 4th at 5pm. Your number will be automatically dialed. If you do not get the call, you can call (855) 756-7520 Ext.60463# at 5pm.

We will go over some of the basic information about the Work Share program, what a reduced schedule might look like and then answer as many questions as we can.

You will receive a ballot in your PPS e-mail inbox at 5pm on Monday, May 4th. Voting will close on Tuesday, May 5th at 5pm. Should we ratify, the school board will then vote Tuesday evening.

We know this is quick, and we want to be able to provide you with all the information necessary to make an informed vote. Here are some additional sources of information coming soon, in addition to the town hall:

• Another email tomorrow with more information
• An Executive Board recommendation
• Your ballot will contain more information

PPS has approached the PAT, other PPS unions, and non-represented employees about the possibility of furloughing employees by 20% for the last five weeks of school this year.  The 20% proposed reduction would mean we would work 4 days a week between now and the end of the school year. 

They estimate saving 66 PAT positions.  

The PPS plan is that employees would work four days a week for the rest of the 2019/2020 school year, and have our members make no less than their regular salary.  This would be accomplished by using the Work Share program of Oregon and Federal Cares Act funding.  Work Share is a program that protects employee income in situations where an employer has to cut employee hours in order to avoid layoffs.  Here is additional information about the Oregon Work Share program:

https://www.oregon.gov/employ/Businesses/WorkShare/Pages/Work%20Share%20Home%20Page.aspx

A set of frequently asked questions can also be found here: 

https://www.oregon.gov/employ/Businesses/WorkShare/Pages/Frequently-Asked-Questions.aspx

By utilizing the Work Share funds, PPS will achieve a significant savings through a temporary furlough, members will keep their pre-furlough health benefit levels, and with the funds from the Work Share program, professional educators would make as much (or more) than they did prior to the cuts.       

Should PAT members and the school board agree, this would begin on Friday, May 8th.

We look forward to answering your questions Monday night.

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

Message sent to our membership on May 1st, 2020

Dear PAT Colleagues:

       As many of you may have heard, PPS has approached the PAT, other PPS unions, and non-represented employees about the possibility of furloughing employees by 20% for the last five weeks of school this year.  Their goal is to save general fund resources.  PPS’s desire to furlough workers now is because of the extraordinary increase in unemployment in Oregon, and the loss of business for so many small businesses.  Oregon knows that the amount of tax dollars coming into the state will be far less than was originally forecast, and the Governor has asked school districts to plan for significant reductions in funds next year.  The PPS idea to have a temporary furlough for all employees is its response to this funding crisis; PPS wants to save as much as it can for staffing next year.

       The PPS plan is that employees would work four days a week for the rest of the 2019/2020 school year, and have our members make no less than their regular salary.  This would be accomplished by using the Work Share program of Oregon and Federal Cares Act funding.  Work Share is a program that protects employee income in situations where an employer has to cut employee hours in order to avoid layoffs.  By utilizing the Work Share funds, PPS will achieve a temporary furlough, members will keep their pre-furlough health benefit levels, and with the funds from the Work Share program, professional educators would make as much (or more) than they did prior to the cuts.

Message sent to our membership on April 24th, 2020 

Dear Educator,

On Tuesday, April 21st, PPS met with PAT leadership to discuss budget issues for the academic year 2020-2021. Because Oregon is dependent on income tax revenue, we all understand from prior recessions, that lower income tax revenue means cuts to public sector services. Both PPS and PAT want to find a way to diminish the impact of the loss of revenue to the school district.   

We wanted to let you know that we are exploring with PPS some possibilities for the remainder of this school year. Though we can’t share details yet, and aren’t even sure what is possible- we did agree to explore options. A few things we wanted to make sure you know:

• PAT cannot, and will not, agree to anything without presenting the details to you, and having members vote on it
• PAT is exploring options that do not harm members financially this year
• PAT is working in collaboration with other unions

At this time we have nothing concrete to report. As soon as we find out more about our options we will communicate further.

In Solidarity,

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

Message sent to our membership on April 23rd, 2020 

Dear Educator,

We know that distance teaching and learning is hard, but it shouldn't hurt!

Most of us aren't accustomed to spending so much time sitting in front of screens, especially in work spaces we've had to design ourselves.

PAT worked with The Standard (one of our partners with our Health and Welfare Trust) to get some tips on how to help prevent and alleviate some of the physical aches and pains caused by poor ergonomics.

First, there are some stretching techniques that might help, especially if you've already noticed some strain on your muscles and joints.

• Click here for stretching techniques

Also, we want to make sure that you've set up your home office the best way for your body. Here are a few resources:

Ergonomic Home Office

• Click here for a document with tips on setting up your home office
• https://nypost.com/2020/03/17/working-from-home-heres-how-to-make-your-setup-more-ergonomic/
• https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/everything-you-need-to-set-up-an-ergonomic-home-office

Ergonomic Zombies Training Video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN2t6GapT8g

Message sent to our membership on April 23rd, 2020 

Dear Educator,

In recognition that substitute educators have been disproportionately affected by a loss of income due to the COVID-19 school closure, OEA has opened up its Relief Fund to all OEA Union members employed as substitutes who have experienced a loss in salary during this time.

You can find more information about the OEA Relief Fund and complete an application by clicking here.

Each individual applicant will be awarded up to a maximum of $1,000 after the application is processed. To be eligible to receive funds, you must have become an OEA member by March 2nd, 2020.

We appreciate all your work and hope you continue to be well.

In Solidarity,

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

Message sent to our membership on April 13th, 2020 

Dear Educator,

We know many of you have questions regarding leaves of absence. Below is a brief overview we’ve put together to give you some more information and to answer some of your questions. If, after reading through this, you still have questions or need assistance with applying for a leave of absence, please email us at [email protected], and don’t forget to include your work location in your email. (To view the below information as a PDF, please click here.)

Covid-19 Related Emergency Leaves of Absence

Last updated 4/13/2020

You are legally entitled to make use of all the new leaves of absence programs that have been created at the Federal level due to Covid-19 closures.  However, PPS has communicated to your PAT leadership, that PPS would prefer that you remain at work (telework). School administrators will work with you to flex your schedule as necessary to ensure that you remain at work (telework) between now and the end of the school year.  

This document will provide you with a brief overview of the new leaves of absence created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), additional details are provided below along with weblinks and additional legal memos to help you understand which leave of absence is right for your situation. 

What type of leave am I eligible for?  

Message sent to our membership on April 9th, 2020 Download the PDF here

Dear Educator,

The announcement yesterday that we would not meet face-to-face with our colleagues and students for the rest of the year didn’t surprise us, and yet, we all shared in the collective grief. It is the right decision, for everyone’s health and safety. We know how hard everyone has been working, and we hate to trouble you with any more asks, but since distance learning is how we will finish the school year, we would really value your time in taking a short survey so we can better advocate for you and our students.

Message sent to our membership on April 8th, 2020 Download the PDF here

Dear Educator,

PAT has been providing weekly updates since the beginning of the PPS school closure. Each communication has included a combination of updates relevant to contract educators and to substitutes. Now that Governor Brown has announced the closure of Oregon public schools for the rest of the year, we will attempt to frequently update our website to serve as the repository of all recent PAT news. We have created a web page with all of our previously sent COVID-19-related communications, and we will continue to post any future communications on that page. At this time, we also want to ensure that our substitute teachers are not missing any communication emails, so we will be maintaining a summary of Substitute Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) on the PAT website, as well. The links for these two pages are http://www.pdxteachers.org/pat_news and http://www.pdxteachers.org/covid_19_updates.

Frequently Asked Questions for Substitutes (updated 4/7/2020)

Should I apply for unemployment benefits?