The union representing about 2,300 Salem-Keizer teachers and educators wants a state board to step in on a labor dispute over how teacher are being paid for additional work this year.
The Salem-Keizer Education Association filed an unfair labor practice complaint Feb. 19 with Oregon’s Employment Relations Board, saying the Salem-Keizer School District has changed the way it calculates extra pay for teachers and other educators who teach extra classes or work at multiple schools, resulting in some members being paid less.
“The district has violated it duty to bargain in good faith by changing the methodology for calculating (full-time equivalency) for educators… from one based on workload completed during time worked, to one based exclusively on time worked. As a result, certain educators are receiving less pay for the same assignment and workload that they had previously,” the complaint reads.
The board is charged under state law with resolving disputes between public employee unions and their employers once internal grievance procedures have been exhausted. The district denied a grievance the union filed in December, saying there had been no change in its method for calculating pay, according to emails submitted with the complaint.
The union is seeking a state order compelling the district to return to its previous method of calculating pay and compensating any affected employees for pay lost, the complaint says.
“The district was provided a copy of the complaint last Friday afternoon from SKEA and has not yet had an opportunity to thoroughly review the complaint. We are aware of the issue and have been in communication with SKEA over the last several months about it,” district spokeswoman Sylvia McDaniel said in an email. “Once the district is formally served the complaint by the Employment Relations Board the district has 14 days to file an answer, so we are several weeks away from filing our response. We don’t have any additional information to share at this time.”
-Rachel Alexander
