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Complaint charges Portland teachers' union with prolonging 2023 strike, seeks $100 million for families
oregonlive.com
Complaint charges Portland teachers’ union with prolonging 2023 strike, seeks $100 million for families
Updated: Apr. 18, 2024, 11:06 p.m.|Published: Apr. 18, 2024, 3:04 p.m.
By
Julia Silverman | The Oregonian/OregonLive
The Portland Association of Teachers unnecessarily prolonged the strike that shut down schools for 11 days in November by trying to bargain over topics that the school district was not legally obligated to discuss, a complaint filed Thursday on behalf of four parents alleges.
The complaint, which seeks relief from an administrative law judge for the state Employment Labor Relations Board, asks for $100 million in damages for families around the district lost academic, social and work time due to the lengthy school closures. The complaint also asks the judge to void the contract that teachers and the district eventually agreed upon.
The suit was filed by Chicago-based firm Hughes & Suhr, which has filed similar complaints in other states where there have been educator strikes, including Illinois, New Jersey and Kentucky; a judge recently dismissed a similar lawsuit from the same firm in Massachusetts. One of the partners in the firm, Daniel Suhr, is a former policy director for former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was nationally known for his fight against collective bargaining for teachers’ unions there. The local counsel is Jeff Eager, a Republican political consultant and attorney who is the former mayor of Bend.
A representative for both the Portland Association of Teachers and its umbrella union, the Oregon Education Association, said neither group would comment on the complaint.
Complaint charges Portland teachers’ union with prolonging 2023 strike, seeks $100 million for families
Updated: Apr. 18, 2024, 11:06 p.m.|Published: Apr. 18, 2024, 3:04 p.m.
By
Julia Silverman | The Oregonian/OregonLive
The Portland Association of Teachers unnecessarily prolonged the strike that shut down schools for 11 days in November by trying to bargain over topics that the school district was not legally obligated to discuss, a complaint filed Thursday on behalf of four parents alleges.
The complaint, which seeks relief from an administrative law judge for the state Employment Labor Relations Board, asks for $100 million in damages for families around the district lost academic, social and work time due to the lengthy school closures. The complaint also asks the judge to void the contract that teachers and the district eventually agreed upon.
The suit was filed by Chicago-based firm Hughes & Suhr, which has filed similar complaints in other states where there have been educator strikes, including Illinois, New Jersey and Kentucky; a judge recently dismissed a similar lawsuit from the same firm in Massachusetts. One of the partners in the firm, Daniel Suhr, is a former policy director for former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was nationally known for his fight against collective bargaining for teachers’ unions there. The local counsel is Jeff Eager, a Republican political consultant and attorney who is the former mayor of Bend.
A representative for both the Portland Association of Teachers and its umbrella union, the Oregon Education Association, said neither group would comment on the complaint.
This is a Republican attempt to destroy the Teachers Union.
[link:https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2024/04/complaint-charges-portland-teachers-union-with-prolonging-2023-strike-seeks-100-million-for-families.html|]