Portland teacher strike enters ninth day as bargaining continues on a new labor contract

Doug Cunningham
·3 min read
The Portland Association of Teachers strike entered the ninth day Wednesday as bargaining on a new three-year labor contract continues. Portland Public Schools said they remain eager to reach a resolution as soon as possible. The PAT is seeking a 23% percent increase in compensation over the three year contract. Photo courtesy PAT Facebook page
The Portland Association of Teachers strike entered the ninth day Wednesday as bargaining on a new three-year labor contract continues. Portland Public Schools said they remain eager to reach a resolution as soon as possible. The PAT is seeking a 23% percent increase in compensation over the three year contract. Photo courtesy PAT Facebook page

Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Portland Public Schools were closed for the ninth straight day Wednesday as teachers remained on strike.

The school district said in a statement that negotiations are continuing to try to resolve the strike issues.

"The bargaining teams have been meeting today and will continue into the night and tomorrow," Portland Public Schools said. "We remain eager to reach resolution as soon as possible."

The Portland Association of Teachers said it has tried during months of talks on a new labor contract to reach an agreement with the district, saying Tuesday evening it had offered the district a new proposal.

"We ended the evening by presenting a package proposal for settlement and to return our students to safe, sustainable, and equitable schools," the union said. "The changes we proposed will close the gap between PPS' and PAT's proposals by $121.6 Million over the life of the 3-year agreement while maintaining the six priorities that are most important to PAT members."

Negotiations between teachers and Portland Public Schools have been happening for about a year. Issues include compensation, staffing/class size and 3 year-old early education. Photo courtesy of PAT Facebook page
Negotiations between teachers and Portland Public Schools have been happening for about a year. Issues include compensation, staffing/class size and 3 year-old early education. Photo courtesy of PAT Facebook page

If the strike stretches into Thursday striking teachers will lose health care benefits. But the PAT said the Oregon Education Association will pay about $5.1 million a month for striking teachers to get health insurance through the federal COBRA program.

As the Portland Association of Teachers strike continues for a ninth day, the school district said it has offered cost-of-living increases of 10.9% over three years. The union wants 23%. Photo courtesy of Portland Association of Teachers Facebook
As the Portland Association of Teachers strike continues for a ninth day, the school district said it has offered cost-of-living increases of 10.9% over three years. The union wants 23%. Photo courtesy of Portland Association of Teachers Facebook

The union said among the things it is asking for are improved salaries and benefits, more teachers on staff to provide small class sizes, wrap-around services for students that would provide early learning to 3-year-olds, more time for teacher planning and preparations and "professional development that is led by educators that addresses critical topics like racial equity and implicit bias."

Portland Public Schools said on its website that the top issues at the bargaining table include "compensation, student discipline, class size caps, and using school resources to provide housing for students of homeless families."

The school district said it is offering a 10.9% cost-of-living increase over the next three years while teachers want 23%.

The district's offer would not fully catch teachers up to 2022 inflation plus the expected rates of inflation for the next three years.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2022 inflation rate alone rose by 6.5%.

Rachel Lidskog-Lim operates Dance With Joy Studios, where kids can come for day camps during the teacher strike. She said the strike is confusing for the students.

"This is very confusing. We had the pandemic, which was very traumatic for many families, and now, we have this," Lidskog-Lim said. "They understand that it's not the teachers that are making the trouble. I hope that other people do too."

The PAT said it is seeking competitive wages and benefits while the district maintains it cannot afford to give the teachers what they want.