President's Corner

Hello, OGEA Members!

I have started visiting school sites this month and hope to get to every school by our December break. Our school year is proceeding and continuing amid the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. It may not be the fall back-to-school beginning that I imagined back in early June; however, we are a mostly vaccinated group with over 95% of our membership fully vaccinated. Some of us have also begun to get our Pfizer booster shot, an extra layer of protection. 

Our goals moving forward include extending our Safety MOU past its November 1st expiration date. We will be pursuing language that includes something similar to the Supplemental COVID Sick Leave, as that expired on September 30, as well as maintaining the safety protocols. 

Additionally, we will also be negotiating our Reopener for Compensation and Benefits, plus another article later this month. We will also be working on our successor contract, since our current CBA is for 2019-2022.

Our newest committee, the Contract Construction Committee, has drafted a survey to gather your input. The Triple C’s members are Dominic Rizzi (Chair, Davis), Sherry Jahn (Bernal), and Steve Harmon (Ed Tech, District Office).Look out for that, as it will be coming soon!

Our Equity and Human Rights Committee is still without a Chair, however the work is still continuing. Our two LGBTQ+ contacts, Kristie Morikawa (Davis) and Megan Wells (AdVenture), are working to coordinate a workshop for all from the Office of LGBTQ Affairs that supports our LGBTQ+ staff and students. 

Don’t miss our OGEA t-shirt days! Our Organizing Team has put together dates to wear our OGEA t-shirts to support our Bargaining Team! Read more about it in the Organizing section! Wearing our shirts on the same day presents a show of solidarity to management. It shows that we stand together! 

#StrongerTogether #StrengthInNumbers

In Unity,

Maripaz Berlin

OGEA President

president@ogea.org