Wednesday night, the Eugene 4-J School Board finalized a contract agreement with the classified employee’s union.
Classified staff members are the bus drivers, assistants to special needs students, custodians. Their new, 4-year labor contract includes provisions for an increased contribution to employee health insurance and enhanced safety reporting.
Tyler Whitmire is with The Oregon School Employees Association. He negotiated the terms of the contract. Whitmire says everyone was concerned about raises. The labor agreement does guarantee a 2.2% salary increase this year.
“It’s kind of sad actually ‘cause some of the folks at the lower end, like the cooks, we had to adjust their wages because minimum wage was starting to surpass them,” Whitmire says. “There are actually folks working in the school district that are working poor.”
The contract contains updated sick leave provisions. Whitmire says the union is proud that this year family leave will be applied to same sex and different sex domestic partners.
