PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland teachers have come together to raise money in order to buy protective gear for custodians and lunch workers who say they haven’t received adequate face masks.
All year Portland Public Schools' nutrition services workers have worked hard and stood out in the elements to make sure kids are fed.
Veronica Duczek was one of them. She's been a district nutritional services employee for the past five years. Monday was her last day because she's moving but she said this past year was particularly hard. Duczek said it took a long time for the district to provide masks.
“They did provide us with face masks about a month ago,” she said.
But she says they didn't fit everyone's faces. Duczek said there's a plan in the works to get better facemasks, but the timeline for when workers will actually get those masks remain uncertain.
“The whole process has been delay, delay, delay with anything we've asked for,” said Duczek.
“This has been a year into the pandemic and we are still waiting.”
Enter Beyoung Yu, who teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) at an elementary school in the district. He and a team of other teachers put together a GoFundMe to help custodians and nutrition services workers.
The idea behind his GoFundMe fundraiser is to quickly get custodians and nutrition services workers quality face masks. So far it's raised just over $2,100.
“We've already been able to order 4,000. So we got 4,000 masks on the way to distribute amongst our 500 custodians and nutritionists which would give them about eight KN95 and we're hoping to get them in the range of 20 and 40 masks,” said Yu.
“We do appreciate everything Beyoung has done to raise awareness and raise funds to get us the masks that we need to do our jobs safely,” Duczek said.
Beyoung said anyone can find the fundraising effort on the GoFundMe website by typing "PPS" into the search bar.
In a statement regarding personal protective equipment (PPE), a spokesperson with the district said, "The nutrition services and custodial staff have had access to PPE since the beginning of the pandemic. Meal sites have had pop-up tents since last spring to serve meals from and most sites serve meals from the entryway of the school. Jackets and reflective vests were provided to employees who requested them. We are not able to add portable propane heaters to meal tents due to fire marshal regulations."
Duczek said she's also grateful for the additional exposure Yu’s GoFundMe effort has brought for a group of workers who sometimes feel overlooked and are among the lowest paid in the district. Duczek said a nutrition assistant makes barely above minimum wage. The majority of workers in her group are women.
“When people think about schools and getting students back in schools, they just look at the teachers. They don’t see the other aspect […] the fact that someone has to keep those schools clean, and keep those schools safe. The fact that someone is preparing food and packing food for students to take home,” she said.
Duczek is also part of the bargaining team for her union, SEIU 503. SEIU stands for the Service Employees International Union. They are currently bargaining with the district in a special bargaining session brought about due to the impacts of the pandemic. She said all the unions went back to the bargaining table in January. The deadline to reach agreements on issues is April 26th.
Aside from the face mask issue, Duczek said custodians and nutritional service workers have been rallying and are asking the district for a one-time $1,500 hazard payment, saying it would help workers who had their hours cut this school year and those who had to buy their own masks. An SEIU 503 leader said it’s an equity issue. Duczek said the request for hazard pay has gone to the school board. They’re also asking the district for an increase in custodial staff. The district has said it plans to hire 30 additional full-time custodians.