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 … Continue reading Divya’s E-Board Bulletin August 2023
Author: Rank and File Caucus
Divya’s E-Board Bulletin July 2023
Greetings fellow members of OEA! My name is Divya Farias and I am a special education teacher at Oakland High. On July 1st, I began my 2-year term occupying executive board Seat #1. Having run on the Rank and File Caucus slate for this position, my objectives as a member of the executive board include … Continue reading Divya’s E-Board Bulletin July 2023
The Four Years that Led Us Here
Our union members are caught between a rock and a hard place with this Tentative Agreement (TA). For many of us who were here in 2019, it feels like déjà vu. While the gains of the TA are necessary to immediately retain teachers in OUSD, they’re nothing to write home about. Devastatingly, the compensation, class … Continue reading The Four Years that Led Us Here
Why Our Strike Accomplished So Little
Last month we posted “From Wildcat to the Whole OEA,” where we proposed some possible actions to maximize pressure on the District to win our contract demands, since Build Our Power (BOP) union leadership had waited too long to launch a powerful strike this school year and was not conducting a member-driven bargaining campaign. We … Continue reading Why Our Strike Accomplished So Little
Shutting Down $57 Million Dollar OUSD Construction Project For One Day
On Thursday May 11, 2023, OEA teachers and allies picketed the construction site of the $57 million dollar OUSD administration building that uses Measure Y funding designated for school building repairs. Rank and file construction workers respected the picket line, shutting down work for the day. This is significant because the workers were under tremendous pressure to cross the picket from their foremen and the Building Trades union officialdom.
Getting Our Strike Strategy and Politics Straight
Many OEA members have joined in the organizing to prepare for our Unfair Labor Practice strike now set to begin May 4. Some have focused on creating solidarity schools (aka strike schools) to minimize harm to students and families that could occur if schools shut down near the end of the academic year.
From the Wildcat to the Whole OEA
We have entered a new phase of the struggle to positively transform public education. The wildcat strike on Friday, March 24th, organized by Oakland High School teachers and the Rank & File Caucus, involved educators and students from 15 schools.
CTA and OEA President Attempt to Override Rep Council
UPDATE: On April 10, 2023, OEA Rep Council approved a resolution that “OEA Rep Council protests the advice of CTA and denounces the action of the OEA interim president to override the following mandate...
March 24, 2023 Wildcat Action
State of the Union: Democracy or Bureaucracy?
Our union is democratic in form but not in content. We have elections, and every member gets a ballot. Yet only about 30% of members participate or are even aware of OEA elections. Democracy requires that the majority of members be informed and actively engaged in what the union is doing. And real democracy means … Continue reading State of the Union: Democracy or Bureaucracy?
Oakland Rank and File Caucus 