PPS Plans Furloughs; Workers Could Make More If Approved

Portland, Ore. – Some Portland Public School employees could soon be working less and making more money. PPS is planning to furlough teachers, principals, and other workers for one day a week, for the rest of the school year. If it’s approved, those impacted would qualify for unemployment. Oregon workers can get up to $600 a week in federal benefits, if they lose as little as 10% of their pay due to coronavirus. That’s on top of state unemployment benefits. Any PPS worker who makes under $265,000 a year could come out ahead. But their pay is protected under a contract and the plan has to be approved. A union representative for the workers tells Oregonlive that their members would like to vote on the plan before it’s approved. District officials want the furloughs to begin this week and discussions are already underway. The plan will be presented at the PPS Board meeting on Tuesday.

*In light of current public health concerns related to COVID-19, this meeting will take place virtually.
Under the provision of ORS 192.670, this meeting will be streamed live here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ppscomms/live

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