Greetings fellow members of OEA!

My name is Divya Farias and I am a special education teacher at Oakland High.  With the help of fellow Rank and File Caucus members, I am sending out monthly bulletins to share with members.

Please note that all Rep Council (RC) and Executive Board (EB) meetings are open to all members to attend.  I highly encourage you to come! Also note that all EB decisions, as always, are subject to approval by the RC. Below you will find some highlights from the August 16 meeting!  Please don’t hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, ideas, concerns. 

Correction to 7/31 EB meeting highlights:

Whoops!  I mistakenly left out SpEd Early Childhood and Newcomer in my list of Reopeners!  Please read here an amended July bulletin with corrections highlighted in yellow.  With regards to the Newcomer re-opener, here’s a link to our initial proposal from last year. Thank you Jessie from Bridges! 

Highlights from the 8/16 EB meeting:

🚨CONTRACT ISSUES With the input and consideration of the Substitute Caucus, an MOU has been negotiated regarding pay for retired teachers who work as substitutes. EB voted unanimously yes to recommend the approval of the MOU which states retired teachers will be paid at the daily rate of Step 13, Column 1 of the teacher salary schedule. 

🗳️NEW BUSINESS

• The draft EB standing rules were approved with almost all Yes and 1 No (Divya)
  • These standing rules are largely the same as last year’s. Significant changes in these rules compared to last year’s include: A) meetings are 1x monthly instead of 2x, B) OEA members who want to raise a point for discussion at EB must submit their item to the president at least 24 hours in advance and the item “maybe” discussed, C) The Chairperson and the body have the right to remove a guest, D) The Chairperson will decide whether each EB meeting is virtual or online
  • An amendment was introduced to add the following to the standing rules: “Notice of an upcoming EB meeting (as well as place and time) will be sent to the membership 1 week prior to an upcoming meeting. (Emergency meetings notwithstanding)”
    • Amendment failed with almost all No and 2 Yes (Divya & Sharon)
• Chair and committee appointments were approved unanimously
  • The new PAR Joint Committee chair is Ana Ferrus García of Bridges Academy; Tontra Love, Nestor Gonzalez, and Jessica Jung are members; Ismael Armendariz is ex-officio
  • The new Grievance Committee chair is Gena Rinaldi of Kaiser CDC; Katherine Gibson and Tim Marshall are members
• Donates of $250 to the John George Social Justice Awards and $500 to the Filipino Alliance for Justice approved unanimously 
• A member requested that a recently-found membership assistance check from the 2019 strike for $1000 be honored.  Unanimous no. 

🏫SITE ISSUES Oakland High submitted an appeal after being informed that their rep allocation was lower than the 7 reps and 5 alternates they elected according to their records of their roster. EB voted unanimously to sustain the appeal; Oakland High will indeed have 7 reps and 5 alternates as per their membership count of 95. 

📅DATES A representative from the AFSCME chapter of OUSD workers (custodians, para-educators, cafeteria staff) will attend the September meeting to present on their ongoing contract negotiations.  Meanwhile, consider checking in with your AFSCME coworkers to ask them how OEA members can support!

📈REPORTS 

• The 2nd VP shared a few important points:
  • Membership is very important especially as the Janus ruling continues to give eligible members the option to withdraw from the union. Reps and site leaders are asked to continue pushing hard to get as close to 100% membership as possible
  • In order to support the OEA-endorsed D5 school board candidate Sasha Ritzie-Hernandez, please consider signing up for and share the link for August door-knocking as well as donating to the OEA PAC. 
• The treasurer reported that she is still amending the budget and currently working on reimbursement of big costs from bargaining and the strike. The budget committee will convene in early September to review the budget. 

🧑‍💻MY 2 CENTS This meeting, like the previous, was conducted on Zoom which sometimes made some of the votes and procedures a bit confusing. I moved the amendment to the standing rules asking for monthly reminders to membership about EB meetings because with fewer meetings and more restrictions on member contributions those meetings, there are now fewer ways for members to make their voices heard.  Only one other EB member voted in support of this amendment, and very little opposition was expressed verbally.  One person put in the chat that they thought it was more important for members to focus on attending organizing meetings instead of EB. 

I also think it is interesting that abstentions are discouraged or perhaps not allowed at EB meetings.  A few times it was mentioned that we can’t abstain – we must vote Yes or No.  This seems like a departure from past practice and as far as I understand Roberts’ Rules of Order, voting members cannot be forced to vote. 

I agree with the 2nd VP that it’s very important for us to take a role in keeping our membership density high and ensuring new teachers are enrolled as members.  This is not just about ensuring we have sufficient dues revenue but primarily about establishing strong, united school sites where teacher-members can rely on each other and be prepared to escalate and act collectively in the face of unjust conditions and/or a contract campaign. 

Once again, please reach out – let’s discuss and build the union we want! My email is postmistressgeneral@gmail.com. The next EB meeting is on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

In solidarity,

Divya