Twice last week, members of the Centralia Education Association teachers union picketed on school property as they continue to negotiate for a new contract.
On Tuesday, union members demonstrated once again as they negotiated with district representatives and a mediator for a 14th bargaining session.
Teachers have become increasingly frustrated over a perceived lack of progress.
Last Thursday, Oct. 22, teachers in the union voiced their frustration during a Centralia School Board meeting, with their main concerns focused on class sizes, workloads, new initiatives being added without resources to implement them, safety, behavior supports and a contract with a “reasonable” cost of living pay increase, according to Angie Brown, co-president of the Centralia Education Association (CEA).
For its part, the district says it is bargaining in good faith and is committed to finalizing a contract with the teachers. The previous two-year contract expired in August.
“The district values our teachers and is committed to a fair contract,” Superintendent Dr. Lisa Grant wrote to The Chronicle last week after a request for a statement. “We are also committed to being fiscally responsible and sustaining essential programs and services. We are actively bargaining and confident we can reach a fair agreement.”
Brown was hesitant to discuss the possibility of a teacher strike, noting that decision would have to be made by members of the union. The union’s last strike was in 2018. For now, the CEA is simply calling attention to the negotiations and voicing frustration with a perceived lack of movement as negotiations drag on.
Brown said the negotiations are lacking direct input from Grant and the Centralia School Board. She characterized the movement as being at an impasse after negotiations first began in April.
“They’ve moved some but, really, their starting point is really what we’d call takeaways,” Brown said, noting that package proposals have included unacceptable reductions in other areas.
“Why would we bargain for less?” she said.
Last week, she said negotiators put forth the district’s previous offer with no changes from what the union had previously rejected.
“Teachers are not feeling like we are being supported or taken seriously,” Brown said.
At last Thursday’s school board meeting at Centralia High School, Brown was among several speakers from the union.
“At last month's meeting, I shared that after multiple bargaining sessions with little meaningful progress, our team was told that the district's bargaining team had no authority to increase its parameters and that our members would need to take their concerns to the board,” Brown said during the meeting. “We were told this twice, once even in front of the neutral mediator as a witness. So imagine my disappointment when I later received an email sent by Dr. Grant on behalf of this board, denying that this was said.”
“This may seem like a small disagreement, but to me it reflects a much larger problem: our teachers do not feel heard, and their experiences continue to be dismissed,” Brown said at the meeting. “We have teachers experiencing assaults, unmanageable class sizes, and health concerns related to stress and increasing workloads. Yet when teachers raise these issues, they feel their experiences are questioned rather than their concerns addressed. It is often turned back on us.”
Brown presented the results from a CEA survey conducted a few weeks ago in which 78% of the union’s members disagreed with the statement that the Centralia School District has a culture of openness and transparency; 76% reported they do not trust district leadership to act on voiced concerns; 77% did not believe district leaders value employee input; and 71% were not confident they can express concerns without affecting their relationships or opportunities.
“These numbers should concern every member of this board,” Brown said during the school board meeting. “When employees don't feel heard, valued or safe speaking up, we have a serious problem. Trust cannot be rebuilt with reassuring words alone. It requires action. This is not simply about teachers wanting more, and it is not just about money. It is about respect, support and accountability. We are asking for a fair contract that recognizes the educators responsible for carrying out this district's strategic plan and provides the support and resources our community was told the levy would help deliver. And before I receive another email disputing what I've shared tonight, let me be clear: I have attended all 13 bargaining sessions. No one at your table has attended even one. I have witnessed these conversations firsthand. I don't need my experiences contradicted or even validated. I need meaningful progress for the teachers I represent.”
When asked what she might tell voters who could be frustrated with labor upheaval after the most recent school levy was approved by just 16 votes earlier this year, Brown said she hopes residents understand the teachers are asking for improvements the levy itself was supposed to help address.
“I hope that the community looks at these same people asking for a contract and realizing that they’re the same ones who were out there really pushing for the levy, because we want the best for Centralia students,” Brown said while picketing last week. “That’s why we all come to work every day. We are trying to make Centralia a better place for the students here. And so the things that we are asking for are for the betterment of the students, so I would hope that the community sees and appreciates and realizes we’re all in the jobs that … we are in because we care about the kids.”
The CEA represents certificated instructors within the district and includes more than 200 members, above 90 percent of the total number of educators in Centralia.
“We’ve done lots of bargains and never got to 13 (bargaining sessions),” Brown said. “It feels a lot more stagnant than usual.”
Brown stressed that, at this point, a pay increase is a very small part of their overall requests.
“We are truly at the point where cost of living is very down the list,” she said. “We want the stuff we promised the community we would see when the levy passed.”
For details on current contracts within the school district, visit https://tinyurl.com/jm744jdv.
