OSEA gain: Unemployment insurance change

In a victory for all education employees, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued guidance requiring states to allow those who quit their jobs for good reasons to receive unemployment compensation during school recess periods. “This is a huge step toward reversing the historic discrimination against education employees that currently denies our members unemployment compensation... Read More

Ashland fights to preserve rights

Ashland Chapter 42 is in mediation with the school district, pushing back against administration’s attempt to remove a key element of the contract. The chapter picketed in front of the district office in November to show administrators that they intend to stand up for their rights. The district is taking the curious position that transportation work rules have never been part... Read More

State seeking ESSA feedback

OSEA members have an opportunity to help Oregon reshape its education system as the state refines its plan to implement the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) started developing its state implementation plan last spring, but there is still much work to be done before the final plan is completed and submitted to the U.S. Department... Read More

Talking issues in D.C.

OSEA’s insistence that work shouldn’t hurt was emphasized by members during visits to Oregon’s congressional delegation this week. They traveled to Washington, D.C. as part of the American Association of Classified School Employees (AACSE) Fall Conference. OSEA Vice President Ma’Lena Wirth is president of AACSE, and OSEA was a founding group of AACSE. Often... Read More

Your advocate at the Legislature

Soren Metzger has a new role at OSEA as our government relations specialist. Metzger brings over a decade of union and public policy experience to the job along with an up-close understanding of OSEA’s members and their needs. As an AFT government relations organizer, she worked with now-retired Government Relations Specialist Tricia Smith during the 2012 campaign and 2013 legislative... Read More

Oregon has major school nurse shortage

The ratio of school nurses to students has grown significantly since 2010, according to a sobering new report released today by OSEA, the Oregon School Nurses Association (OSNA), Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) and Upstream Public Health. Download the report: Unhealthy Schools: The Alarming Decline of School Nurses in Oregon. Despite Oregon’s improving economy, school nurse positions... Read More

Stoelb elected to 3rd AFT VP term

OSEA President Tim Stoelb was reelected to a third two-year term as an AFT vice president at AFT’s National Convention last week in Minneapolis. As our OSEA Board of Directors conducts the business of the association between conferences, the AFT Executive Council, chaired by AFT President Randi Weingarten, likewise conducts the business of the AFT between conventions. The council... Read More

Study: Corporate taxes don’t raise prices

  A comprehensive study shows no correlation between taxes paid by large corporations and prices paid by consumers in that same state. The new study from the Oregon Consumer League and Our Oregon studied consumer prices across state lines to find out if and how corporate taxes affected those prices. “A nationwide scan of the prices consumers pay at major retailers showed... Read More

OSEA lobbyist retires, receives award

Tricia Smith, who served as OSEA’s government relations specialist for 20 years, has been a stalwart defender of working class people her entire professional life. As she enters retirement, the organizations and causes she has championed are showing their gratitude. Former OSEA lobbyist Tricia Smith shows off the Tribune of Worker Justice award she received from Northwest Workers’... Read More

Most OSEA-backed candidates, bonds win

Gov. Kate Brown and secretary of state candidate Brad Avakian’s primary victories led the way in what was a mostly successful night for OSEA-endorsed bonds and candidates. Brown easily dispatched her rivals en route to a huge win in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 17. She will face Salem oncologist Bud Pierce in the November general election. Avakian, currently the state’s... Read More