Bargaining 

Link to: Proposal Doc

Proposal status 8/27/25

 Link to proposal COMING SOON

Link to Proposal Doc

Hey CATs,

 Once again, we need to thank you for showing up to support your bargaining team. Tonight we had at least 44 people in the audience. We are showing the district that we are united! Your presence is so important to this process. Remember, the district would be very happy to do all of this behind closed doors.  I hope that everyone caught that the district’s questions about our proposals will be emailed to Maria and not asked in an open bargaining session. Don’t worry we won’t keep you in the dark.  I’m not naming names but a district team member also thinks that a summer bargaining session, with limited team members, would be an awesome idea! Don’t worry, that is an ABSOLUTE NO! They are much more comfortable doing this without all you or us in the room. Keep it UP! 

Tonight started out with a mic dropping response to Mr. Reese’s comments from the previous bargaining session from our fearless leader Maria! She definitely got their attention. The flyer shared on Discord covers a lot of the highlights from last night’s session. Here are a few others you might have missed:

• The district doesn’t agree to retirees having the choice to buy into our insurance until they reach the age of 65. Administrators have this ability written into their contract. 

• The district still wants a posted list of agenda items so they can have adequate time to prepare for contract maintenance meetings. Yes, they want preptime to prepare for a meeting! 

• The district has agreed to delete their language affording them the right to file a grievance against SEA. We will be looking into the process they propose as an alternative.  

Between now and the next session, your team will be dissecting the district’s counter proposals and coming up with our own. Thanks again for all your hard work keeping our members informed and involved!

SEA Bargaining Team

• 5/7/25 Proposal Status

4/24/25

Good evening,

Firstly, I want to thank all of the members that came to show their support tonight. Also, a thank you to those members who watched online. Your presence is powerful and necessary to the bargaining process. We are demonstrating our unity which is our bargaining power. 

There are five basic stages of collective bargaining: 1. Preparation, 2. Negotiation, 3. Tentative Agreement, 4. Ratification, 5. Contract Administration. We are currently in stage 2, Negotiation.  At tonight’s bargaining session SEA and SPS presented counter proposals in response to the contract changes developed by both parties in stage 1. 

The session began with some contention as SPS stated the rationale behind their counter proposals which highlighted their unwillingness to give up any decision making power and their commitment to a small financial package. The language that the district is using surrounding the “financial package” is attempting to put the burden on SEA to decide what is important cost wise. Members can rest assured we are going to fight to get all of the monetary compensation our members deserve. 

Highlights- 

• At the first bargaining meeting SPS stated that the Springfield School Board had given SPS a budget of 1.6 million during tonight’s session the amount had increased to 2 million which sounds nice but doesn't go far. 

• SEA is unwilling to agree to let SPS file a grievance against SEA or its members or leadership. 

• “We will not be the first teacher’s union in Oregon to put this in a contract.” Maria Sayre 4/24/25

• SPS maintains that they can not have a contract maintenance meeting without adequate preptime.  

• SPS is proposing NO increase to preptime above 360 minutes a week. SEA is not done fighting for more preptime. Yet, SPS maintains that they can not have a contract maintenance meeting without adequate preptime.  

• SPS is currently not willing to counter the SEA proposal on class sizes. 

• Cliff, Roxanne, and Brandon asked some tough clarifying questions about prep-time. Great job! 6 minutes a day increase and no improvement in student outcomes! MIC DROP! 

Thanks again for showing your support!

SEA Bargaining Team

Bargaining 4/7/25

Good evening colleagues, 

Today was our 2nd  bargaining session with the District. We are at the table working for better working conditions for educators and better learning conditions for students. We presented exciting proposals today to secure the schools our students and educators deserve, and we are excited that we were able to cover so much ground in our first session with management. A couple of high points are, we proposed 500 min of prep-time for all certified employees, and a 7% COLA. SPS proposed an 8.5 hour work day with no increase in compensation and stated that the board has given SPS 1.6 million budget for any costs. We estimate that 1.6 million would mean a 2% COLA and a $25 dollar insurance contribution from the district. We would like to thank all members who watched online and showed up to give us their support. Our next session is April 24th. We hope to see you there.

SEA Bargaining Team

SEA Bargaining Proposal

Link to Proposal Document