PAGE 4 | April 21, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JOBS
Portland Public Schools could face
layoffs for 2017-18 school year
MDA AMBASSADORS. The Camps are ambassadors for the Oregon Muscular Dystrophy Association. Lynette
Camp (center) and four of her six children have been diagnosed with the disease. Taking part in the MDA La-
bor Bowl were Benjamin, 12, Ephraim, 10, Hannah, 9, and Caleb, 5. Also bowling is their father, Wayne.
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Union members score big with
bowling fundraiser for MDA
Oregon School Employees Association Beaverton
Chapter 48 fielded three teams this year. Above, OSEA
member Matt Bennett prepares to roll a strike as team-
mates Hansen Hess, Amanda Bennett, and Kristen
Croft look on.
IATSE Local 28 Business Representative Rose Etta Vene-
tucci (left) and Board member Kathy Andrews prepare
to bowl — complete with team uniforms.
Eighty-five bowlers representing 21 union-
sponsored teams raised $8,536.52 for the Mus-
cular Dystrophy Association April 9 at Sunset
Lanes in Beaverton. The National Association
of Letter Carriers Branch 82 sponsors the event,
with promotional help from the Northwest Ore-
gon Labor Council. Since its inception in 1989,
the Labor Bowl for MDA has raised $392,119.
Money is collected through pledges and a silent
auction. The top fundraiser, with $412, was
Mike O’Conner, a member of the National As-
sociation of Letter Carriers Branch 82.
All money raised helps kids go to summer
camp, buy wheelchairs and braces, and pay for
research. Muscular dystrophy is a hereditary con-
dition marked by a progressive weakening and
wasting of the muscles over time.
Unions represented at this year’s event were
NALC Portland Branch 82, NALC Salem
Branch 347, Oregon School Employees Asso-
ciation Beaverton Chapter 48, IATSE Local 28,
and NW Priority Credit Union.
Top bowlers on the day were Mike Hennings
of OSEA Branch 48, and Char Bryce of NALC
Branch 82.
First time MDA
bowler Eric Taunt
is a member of
NALC Branch 82
at Creston Post
Office in Southeast
Portland.
A loss in state education funding
could spell layoffs next year for
more than a hundred union
members who work at Portland
Public Schools (PPS).
Interim Superintendent
Robert McKean presented his
proposed budget to the Portland
School Board on April 4. The
budget is based on the assump-
tion that the state will not pro-
vide enough funding for K-12
schools to cover the district’s
current level of services, so cuts
likely will be necessary —
though nothing is set in stone.
The State of Oregon is facing
a $1.7 billion budget shortfall
for the next biennium.
Under the superintendent’s
proposal, 83 teachers and 59
non-union central office em-
ployees are on the chopping
block.
More than 200 classified em-
ployees remain unassigned for
next year, according to Belinda
Reagan, president of Portland
Federation of School Profes-
sionals (PFSP) Local 111. Ear-
lier this year the union was no-
tified that 100 workers could be
laid off next year if the state
doesn’t allocate more money to
the school budget.
“We’re now up to approxi-
mately 225 unassigned employ-
ees,” Reagan said. “It runs
across the board — from school
secretaries, library assistants,
EAs (education assistants), to
instructional techs.”
The superintendent’s budget
allocates $4.3 million for custo-
dians and maintenance, with an
additional $1 million for new
school custodians and mainte-
nance, which would add 12 jobs
dedicated to new buildings.
Custodians are represented
by Service Employees Local
503, and maintenance depart-
ment personnel are represented
by a dozen union locals under
the District Council of Unions
(DCU).
With just 84 workers, the
maintenance department already
is well below industry standards
for staffing in relation to the
square footage of buildings they
are responsible for, said DCU
spokesman Pat Christensen, a
business rep for Plumbers and
Fitters Local 290.
The School Board has sched-
uled listening sessions to take
public comment on how to allo-
cate dollars in the coming year.
The first one was held April 11.
The next session is April 25,
from 5-6 p.m. at Blanchard Ed-
ucation Service Center, 501 N.
Dixon St., Portland. The final
session will be held May 9 from
5-6 p.m., also at Blanchard Ed-
ucation Service Center.
The School Board will hold a
budget work session May 23,
with final adoption expected
June 13.,