Tigard-Tualatin Chapter 51 is in their eleventh month of contract negotiations, but they see the end in sight! They recently took a big stride forward by using one of our most valuable resources: our voice.
Chapter 51 brought a crowd of members, teachers and other OSEA chapter members to rally outside a school board meeting in January, shining a light on the stalemate they were in with the district. The school board is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to bargaining. Their signatures will be on the ratified contract. So bringing bargaining issues to them can sometimes shake loose the progress you need.
After the rally, Tigard Tualatin’s Superintendent met with Chapter 51’s bargaining team for an hour and the bargaining teams returned to passing proposals back and forth. Before the rally, the district was only willing to meet in mediation.
“One of the school board member duties is to observe and ensure successful negotiations between the bargaining units. That’s why it’s so impactful when we go there when we’re at a stalemate,” Chapter 51 Vice President Todd Winter said. “It’s important they all know what’s going on, since they’re not all on the bargaining team, and that they understand how we feel and that we deserve what we’re asking for as a vital piece of our learning community.”
Chapter 51 rallied peacefully before the meeting and then attendees filled the school board chamber to capacity. State President Sarah Wofford testified during public comment, as did Chapter 51 Secretary Danielle Hurst-Marino. Then the union members filed out together. Winter later learned that the school board were impressed by how respectful and coordinated they were and a school board member said she leaned towards making sure they have enough money to pay frontline staff appropriately instead of increasing administrative pay.
“They were not preoccupied by behavior and that allowed our message to really land. It’s important to us that they really heard the message,” he said. The superintendent reached out the next day.
Tigard-Tualatin Chapter 51 drew a large crowd for their rally through a couple of different channels. First, Winter said Chapter 51 is intentional about fostering their solidarity with the licensed teacher’s union. He has a good relationship with the Tigard-Tualatin Education Association (TTEA)'s president and they go out of their way to support each other. When TTEA has a campaign, Chapter 51 shows up to their rallies and attends school board meetings with them and TTEA does the same in return.
They even have joint t-shirts and a chant to highlight their solidary: “Without them, there’s no us. Without us, there’s no them!”
“It turns 600 of us into 1,300 of us,” Winter said. “It’s a symbiotic relationship. When we embrace it, it creates a feeling of oneness derived from unity… We’re separated by only name. But we’re all union and we’re all in the same game.”
Chapter 51 also does a lot of outreach about bargaining – they send regular updates, hold monthly town halls about their progress and maintain an active Facebook page to keep members informed and engaged.
They also pulled in support from other chapters by reaching out to their zone director, Misty Talerico, and the OSEA State Office. OSEA's communications team sent an email blast out to surrounding chapters, which is something they’re ready to do for other chapters. They can also help with placards, signs, buttons and slogans if needed. Contact your field representative to get the ball rolling if this is something you want to do.
Winter encouraged other chapters to remember that we should be proud of the important work we do and that our collective voice is powerful.
“You have a voice, come together and use it!” Winter said. “Let them know that we’re worth it. My motto is: we’re the other half of learning.”