ERB Declares Oregon Trail Strike Lawful

The Employment Relations Board issued a decision today dismissing the Oregon Trail School District's petition to declare the current strike unlawful. The crux of the District's petition had been that the Association struck based upon permissive subjects. As support for that argument, the District pointed to two major facts: a recognition clause proposal that had been withdrawn by the Association prior to the strike and newspaper articles indicating that the reason for the strike was a failure to agree on teacher evaluation and prep-time. The ERB rejected both arguments. First, it held that where a party promptly withdraws a permissive proposal after objection from the other side and there is no evidence that the proposal was a cause of the strike, it does not render the strike unlawful. Second, it held that where there are no permissive proposals in the final offer or in the strike notice, newspaper reports of other permissive subjects being the "real" basis for the strike are not probative of strike unlawfulness. In sum, the ERB correctly rejected this petition for what it was: a last ditch attempt by the District to avoid having to bargain with its employees based upon ill conceived legal theories.