What’s in it for them?

Every day on my way to and from work I pass a billboard. “Give yourself a raise!” it says. “Opt out of your union today!” It’s been up at least 4 months, maybe longer. I had my son do a quick google search on the cost of billboard rentals and the monthly cost for a small billboard ranges from $700-$1500 per month. I had to ask myself, who is willing to pay close to a thousand dollars a month just to save me $25? What’s in it for them?

Recently school employees all across the state received a form letter in the mail, encouraging us to opt out of our union. This is the second letter in just a few months. That’s thousands of mailers each time. When you factor in the cost of printing, postal prep, and non-profit postage, that’s close to 20 cents each, easily close to $10,000! Once again, I had to ask, “what’s in it for them?”

Is this some philanthropic person who cares about public employees so much that they are willing to spend well over $10,000 of their own money to help us? I doubt it. Who has something to gain by this? Who could gain by causing employees to lose the collective bargaining rights employees have fought for more than one hundred years? Who will gain from a cheaper workforce? Who profits? And why are they targeting some of the lowest paid public employees in the state? What’s in it for them?

Now go ahead, ask me: “what’s in it for me”. I’ll gladly tell you. A living wage is what’s in it for me. Employer contribution to my health insurance, that’s what’s in it for me. My union contract also protects my seniority rights, cost of living salary increases, protection against being let go on a whim, paid Federal holidays, a set schedule with weekends off, bereavement leave, sick leave, and the security of knowing if my child is ill I can stay home and care for him. I don’t have to weigh the cost of losing a day of pay vs. caring for my child. I could go on.

These are all things that I have a right to under my collective bargaining agreement that was bargained for by my union. If my union goes away, so does the guarantee of all those things. Those things are “what’s in it for me”.

When school employees have job security they also have loyalty to their district. Who do we want educating our kids? A constant stream of new employees with no buy in? Someone who is constantly looking for a better job? No. We want professional staff who form relationships with the students, who care about their futures, who are capable of providing the best possible education for our next generation of leaders.

“Opt-out” “Give yourself a raise…”, well, that might be true for a few months, but without members, there is no union. If the union falls, we will quickly see that raise and our hard-earned rights not only go away, but we will find ourselves in a far more difficult situation. Large business owners and wealthy corporate employers have the most to gain if unions weren’t around. Without a union you are considered an at-will-employee, which means you can be fired for nearly any reason, denied raises, job safety, set schedules, health insurance and seniority rights. Basically, without a union, corporations increase their profits. That’s what’s in it for them.

So once again, I just have to ask, “what’s in it for them?” It sure seems clear to me.

Mary Hofer

Office Manager at Bend High

Bend-La Pine Chapter 6 Treasurer

OSEA State Secretary

Names presented at the March 12, 2019 meeting as Executive Board Nominations:

President: Dianna Hess (declined nomination), Martin Slater (accepted nomination)

Vice President : Dianna Hess (accepted nomination)

Treasurer: Diane Egan (accepted nomination)

Secretary: Dan Horn (accepted nomination)

Nutrition Services Rep: Kim Kennedy (accepted nomination)

Clerical/Technical Rep: OPEN

Custodial/Maintenance Rep: Lynette Stone (accepted nomination)

Transportation Rep: Martin Slater (accepted nomination - then declined due to nomination for President) OPEN

Instructional Rep: Krysti Sackman (accepted nomination)

Additional nominations will be taken at the April 9th Chapter meeting. Nominations will close at the end of the meeting that evening.

Each OSEA chapter can elect members as delegates to the annual Conference where, over the course of three days June 27th-June 29th at the Red Lion on the River in Portland, they will vote on

resolutions,

approve our annual budget,

elect state officers and zone directors,

as well as ensure the mission and goals of the union reflect the interests of our members.

If you would like to attend- attend the March or April Chapter meeting to be nominated from the floor or email Kim@osea.org - and submit your name.

Names presented at the March 12, 019 meeting were:

7 State Conference Delegate Nominations:

Dan Horn (accepted nomination) if elected as Secretary will be an automatic delegate

Kirk Wilkins (accepted nomination)

Lynette Stone (accepted nomination)

Kristen Croft (accepted nomination)

Kyrsti Sackman (accepted nomination)

Martin Slater (accepted nomination) if selected as President will be an automatic delegate

Debbie Keller (accepted nomination)

Additional nominations will be taken at the April 9th Chapter meeting. Nominations will close at the end of the meeting that evening.

Only members in good standing which translates to those that are currently paying dues may vote. Your Work Site Representative/ Organizer will have the envelope with ballots and the check off sheet.

If you do not have a WSR/O at your site, you may go to any site to vote. Ballots will be in buildings Wednesday April 17, 2019.

If you are a 10 month or 11 month employee and are planning on resigning or retiring at the end of your 2018-19 contract, please know that you do not need to wait until the end of August to notify the District.

You may resign/retire at anytime and you will maintain your health benefits through the summer months, ending on August 31st. By letting us know your plans as soon as possible, the District is able to fill your positions prior to the start of the 2019-20 school year.

If you are a 12 month employee, your health insurance will cover you through the end of the month in which you last worked.

Thank you to Super Play in Beaverton for being so accommodating to our BSD Classified staff March 9, 2019. There was bowling, arcade games, laser tag and virtual reality games available for all who attended along with free soda and a couple of slices of pizza - all courtesy of OSEA Chapter 48.

The OSEA Members in attendance who won $25 Freddie's gift cards were:

Amanda Bennett, Summer Jelly, Laura Friend and Lynette Stone.

The OSEA Members who signed up at the event who won $25 Freddie's gift cards were:

Ashleigh Pearl, Anju Barbaria, Katherine Salazar and Barbara Parker.

Super Play donated a $50 gift card to return to them and have fun was won by Dianna Hess.

Thank you to all of the OSEA members paying dues to make this possible for all who attended.

OSEA members from across the state attended OSEA’s Legislative Education Day (LED) 2019 on March 3-4 at the state Capitol. LED was an experience that empowered members in attendance to speak to their local Senators and Representatives, sharing their stories and advocating for education funding.

Dianna Hess, Cheri Arthur and Lawrence Rajotte were able to meet with Senator Mark Hass' aide, secretary and intern since he was out ill. They are looking into funding that will allow consistency for our future.

Lawrence and Dianna also had the opportunity to meet with Representative Sheri Schouten for her take on the education funding or lack there of. She was sympathetic to our needs but the pie is not getting any bigger, yet all needs cost more.

It is important that we get involved and talk to those that represent us, telling them 'Our Stories" as school district employees. This is how the Work Shouldn't Hurt campaign began and was passed. Members speaking up, telling their stories.

We will showcase at least one benefit monthly that can save you and your family money,

for being a member of OSEA 48 /AFT 6732.

Check them out below or click on the Benefit Button to view to all.

MEMBER ASSISTANCE FUND

The Member Assistance Fund is a program within OSEA that provides emergency assistance to members in need due to death, serious illness, injury or disaster.

To apply, print the form, fill it out, have it signed by a chapter officer and scanned by them to the OSEA State Office.

MEMBER ASSISTANCE FUND

The Member Assistance Fund is a program within our OSEA Chapter that provides emergency assistance to our members in need due to death, serious illness, injury or disaster.

To apply, print the form, fill it out, have it signed by a chapter officer and scanned by them to Dianna Hess

We have been able to help 11 members so far this year.

Print, Complete and Send this by inter-department mail to Dianna Hess @ SPED office

President - Kristen Croft

Vice President - Dianna Hess

Treasurer - Kyrsti Sackman

Secretary - Dan Horn

Custodial/Maintenance Rep - Lynette Stone

Instructional Rep- Charlene Compton

Nutrition Services Rep - Kim Kennedy

Transportation Rep - Martin Slater

Website: http://48.osea.aft.org
Location: Beaverton
Phone: 503-356-3931
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OSEABeavertonChapter48/