This is a detailed summary of the Tentative Agreement that your Bargaining Team reached with PPS on Thursday, January 18th. Read the full set of Tentative Agreements here. Questions? Contact your Organizer, Joe Cartino at cartinoj@seiu503.org

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Appendix A – Nutrition Services

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO EXCEL FORMAT 

• A new hire at step one will see a 20.5% increase (raises & steps combined) between 7/1/23 and 7/1/25. 
• STEP PLACEMENT results in significant wage increases for workers.
• FOR EXAMPLE, As of July 1st, 2023, a lead who completed two years of employment and is in their 3 year of employment will move from $21.08 to Step 3, $24.05, or a 14.08% raise immediately upon ratification (and it’s retroactive).
• FOR EXAMPLE, a lead working in their tenth year of service moves from $22.14 to $28.63 a 25.5% raise, retroactive to July 1st, 2023.
• wage step scale for nutrition services employees! This is a major win. SEIU fought for a wage scale for 5+ years. NS employees will receive both a raise (see below) AND a step increase of 2.5%.

Wage placement for current employees:

• “… Employees will be placed on the wage scale based on years of service in their classification. For example, a NS lead who has completed 3 full years of employment with the District in their classification and is currently in their fourth year of employment in the classification, will be placed on step 4 of the wage scale…’”
• Retroactive backpay to July 1st, 2023 to be issued in a separate lump sum check once SEIU members and the School Board have voted yes to ratify the new contract.
• July 1st, 2023 raise: 8.5% for Nutrition Services Leads and Assistants.
• July 1st, 2024 raise: 4% for Nutrition Services Leads and Assistants plus one step (+2.5%).
• July 1st, 2025 raise: 3% for Nutrition Services Leads and Assistants plus one step (+2.5%).
• Summer monitors are paid at the roving lead rate.
• NS leads in roving position will receive a $1.00 (up from .50c) increase for all hours worked.
• Increase for .16c to .50c per hour bonus for persons holding a school nutrition association certification of level 1 or higher.
• ‘Employees who serve in a department committee leadership role will receive additional compensation of .50c per hour while performing the leadership role’ NEW BENEFIT. 

Appendix B – Custodians

Wage Scale, Pending Verification. Link to excel spreadsheet for wage table referenced. 

• July 1st, 2023 Retroactive 6% raise plus a step.
• July 1st, 2024 3% raise plus a step.
• July 1st, 2025 3% raise plus a step. 
• Increase to travel pay, $4 to a location, $3 dollars each subsequent trip.

Article 1 – Recognition and Application of Agreement 

• NEW right in the contract for Union representatives to speak at public school board meetings (just like the Teacher’s Union).

Article 3 Status of Agreement 

• NEW right, pathway to getting paid twice-a-month once the District finishes its computer upgrades and makes biweekly pay ‘administratively and financially feasible’.

Article 8 – Payroll 

• The District will provide to SEIU an employee’s self-disclosed sex and race/ethnicity information.

Article 10 – Grievance Procedure 

• Significant improvement to the grievance procedure.
• Expanded the right to file grievances on Article 12 Nondiscrimination and PPS policies. Ends the restriction that prohibited grievances from being filed on issues covered by State and/or Federal statues.
• Faster grievance process

Article 13 Personnel File 

• NEW right to request reprimands be removed from personnel files after two years, provided there is not a repeat violation and the District will consider the severity of the incident when deciding whether or not to grant the removal request.

Article 14 Employee Evaluation 

• New contract language to ensure probationary employees receive evaluations.
• On an annual basis, the District will provide an anonymous survey to allow employees to provide feedback on their work environment.

Article 15 – Overtime and Call Back 

• NEW provision, ‘The District will attempt to solicit volunteers Districtwide prior to assigning mandatory overtime’. For custodians, FOMs will solicit volunteers from the school in question, the cluster and then Districtwide.

Article 17 Leaves

• NEW. Quarantine and isolation paid leave. No loss of pay up to 30 days, in a future pandemic where health officials require isolation or quarantine.  
• NEW. ‘The use of accrued leave … shall not be counted as an occurrence under the District’s attendance policy’. 
• NEW. ‘The District shall respond to all employee leave requests within fourteen (14) calendar days’. 
• Improved sick leave provision to match Oregon Sick Time Law and BOLI regulations.  
• Added expanded use of use family illness days to siblings, stepsiblings, step parents, foster children and any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with a covered individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Article 18 Insurance 

• New. Part-time (at least 20 hours a week) workers may now purchase employee only healthcare. District pays 90% of the premium. This is the most affordable healthcare offered to part-time employees in the District.

Article 19 – Safety

• New contract protections about employee complaints, harassment complaints and District safety plans. ‘Employee complaints. All employee complaints made against another employee must be submitted pursuant to District policy and this agreement. For harassment complaints, the District will evaluate whether a safety plan is appropriate. The District will not require the complainant to move work locations as part of any safety plan.’’
• New contract protections to ensure that the District follows the law and District policies during heat emergencies. ‘Temperature of the workplace. Labor management committee meetings may include workplace temperature as a discussion topic. For heat management, PPS will follow the OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Rule and the PPS Heat Illness Prevention Plan including the following:

• • Access to shade when the heat index is at/above 80 degrees Fahrenheit
  •  Ensuring that each employee take health illness prevention rest breaks, regardless of the length of the shift if the heat index is at or above 90 degrees
  • If a supervisor observes signs or an employee reports symptoms of heat illness, the employee must be relieved from duty and provided with means to reduce body temperature.
  • Subsection G is intended to align with the OSH heat illness prevention rule and the PPS heat illness prevention plan.

Article 21 Vacation and Holidays.  

• Christmas Day and Independence Day are now in the contract.

Article 22 – Compensation  

• New Inclement Weather rights. ‘All custodians who report to work when the school or site is closed for inclement weather will receive 1.5 times their base rate of pay for all hours worked.
• Nutrition services employees will not report to work (during inclement weather) and will be permitted to use available personal /emergency leave.
• NEW longevity premium. A bargaining goal since at least 2019. ‘Employees who have 15 or more consecutive years of service with the District from the employee’s start date will receive longevity premium pay in the amount of one percent (1%) of the employee’s base rate of pay.

Article 23 Nutrition Services Extra Work 

• Staff who have their hours greatly reduced or have a ‘down day’ may be assigned to work at another location.  
• The District will now take an employee’s ‘regular schedule’ into account when making assignments.

Article 24 – Transfers and Vacancies  

• New contract protections over assignments and vacancies. Significant improvement. Before we had nothing.  
• Nutrition services employees will be notified of their work location at least two weeks before students attend classes.  
• The District will provide 5 days notice of a permanent transfer to all employees, except in cases of building need or emergency appointment. Transferred employees may request a written reason for the transfer and must make that request within 5 days of transfer.

Article 25 Duration  

• 3 year contract, expires June 30th, 2026. We continue to have our contract expire at the same time as the P.A.T.

Contract Cleanup  

• Contract continues to be gender neutral
• Eliminated Article 4 Contract Administration