This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, February 4, 2010
News / Schools BREAKING: Teachers' Contract Negotiations Break Down, Could Lead To Strike
Posted by Stefan Kamph on Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 3:11 PM
Portland Public Schools has declared impasse in its months-long negotiations with the teachers' union. After a 30-day cooling off period, the teachers could strike.
Teachers disagree with PPS on issues like pay raises, workday limits, and insurance rates.
Additionally, PPS could implement its final offer: essentially, pay the teachers what it wants or have them quit. But PPS attorney Rick Liebman says, "we have no intention of implementing our final offer. That's extremely rare."
The teachers have publicized the fact that they've been working without a contract for 18 months... but "so are we," says Liebman.
The two parties have held ten sessions with a state-appointed mediator. Both sides say they've put their best offer on the table. Stay tuned for updates.
Update 3:18 p.m.: Reactions from Rick Liebman added.
Update 4:04 p.m.: Rebecca Levison, President of the Portland Association of Teachers, says "Portland teachers have continued to sacrifice for students.... The district's offer would raise our workload and result in the lowest beginning teacher salary of the 14 metro-area districts. Upper management continues to demonstrate weak management and poor judgment." Levison adds that teachers worked 10 days without pay last year, something no administrators were willing to do.
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