The Oakland teachers union owes the Oakland Unified School District more than $400,000 - an amount that has been accumulating since the 2021–22 school year.
Oakland Unified officials discovered the missed payments during a year-end negotiation process with the union, a spokesperson for the district told The Epoch Times in a statement.
During the year in question, the district allowed several of its staff members to go on paid leave for union work, and the union—the Oakland Education Association—was to reimburse it for their salaries and benefits while they were on leave.
But the union did not make those payments and still has not this school year as the employees remain on leave at the district’s expense.
State law requires unions to reimburse public agencies within 10 days of receiving invoices and the confirmation of payment for employee salaries and benefits.
The spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the union has been notified and the district expects them to pay.
“We have notified [the union] and we believe they will pay as they’ve done in years prior to 2021–22,” the spokesperson said.
“If that does not occur, however, the district will take steps available under the law to collect the public funds.”
The union was not immediately available for comment.
The district and the union have been at odds over labor negotiations, with the most recent being a three-day strike in May that ended when the district agreed to give the union’s teachers raises of roughly 15 percent over the next three years.
The missed payments mean that the district paid union leaders’ salary and benefits throughout the strike.
The union has also come under fire for its since-deleted Instagram post on Oct. 27 pledging “unequivocal support for Palestinian liberation” and calling Israel an “apartheid state.”
The social media post encouraged union members and its community to “take a public stand in support of Palestinian people” and to call their local lawmakers to demand they support a ceasefire in the Middle East.
