NORWICH – Representatives of Norwich City School’s support staff say they’re “disappointed” the Board of Education won’t hear their side of the story following a breakdown in contract negotiations with district officials back in the spring.
The school board and Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan say a second sit-down following the deadlock would disrupt the negotiation process agreed upon by both sides, which is set to resume Oct. 29.
Norwich’s roughly 200 support staff – secretaries, aides, paraprofessionals, technicians, custodians, maintenance workers, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, library and payroll clerks, and health workers – have been working without a contract since June 30, after both sides failed to hammer out an agreement during three days of negotiations in late April.
Seeking pay and benefits comparable to their counterparts in Chenango County, a group of around 50 support staff workers briefly packed Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting in The Eaton Center. The group walked out after Norwich Educational Support Staff Association President Trish Pepe read a prepared statement to the board during the public comment period at the meeting’s onset, leaving the room nearly empty.
“We are here tonight to remind you that both the teachers and your support staff are starting the school year without a new contract in place,” Pepe stated. “I need to tell you how disappointed and saddened we are.”
Teacher contracts negotiations are scheduled to resume this month. As for support staff, O’Sullivan said there is no contract because both sides agreed that they couldn’t strike a balance.
“Both sides mutually agreed that they couldn’t reach an agreement,” O’Sullivan said in a phone interview Wednesday, adding that breakdowns are a regular occurrence in contract talks. “We are trying to come up with a fair and equitable contract for NESSA and the taxpayers in the district. It’s a balancing act of what the district can pay for and what is fair NESSA.”
NESSA reps say a 14.49 percent raise and retirement health insurance – which they argue would increase their salaries and health packages to the average among support staff workers in the county – would be fair and equitable.
“Every day, we are here for the students and continually put our needs above our own,” Pepe told the board. “I feel very strongly that we shouldn’t have to choose between staying here, doing a job that we love, and making a decent living. This is the decision we are faced with.”
NESSA Vice President Donald Tubbs, who participated in the contract talks with Pepe, believes his organization should have a chance to explain to the board why they felt the negotiations froze.
“We didn’t want to negotiate the contract or salaries with the board,” Tubbs said. “We wanted to tell our side of the story.”
In a letter sent to Pepe dated July 11, O’Sullivan wrote, in response to NESSA’s request to meet with the board, “The Board of Education believes both parties should follow the agreed upon process and not interfere or disrupt PERB’s (Public Employee Relations Board) work by beginning another secondary negotiating forum.”
A mediation hearing guided by the PERB is scheduled for Oct. 29.
“We’re following the process laid out by both sides months ago,” O’Sullivan said Tuesday night.
David Schreiber, a labor relations specialist with the New York State United Teachers Union, who also participated in NESSA talks on behalf of the support staff, said their are no rules against sitting down and discussing the issues.
“There are no rules that limit both sides from sitting down with each other or with the board and discussing the issues,” Schreiber said. “They’re using the impasse as an excuse.”
Impasse is the legal procedure sides agree to take when contract meetings become deadlocked.
At the meeting Pepe told the board they did not want to quit their jobs. “In fact, we were told at the bargaining table, that if we didn’t like our pay and benefits, we should go work someplace else, maybe even McDonald’s. Well, we don’t want to work at McDonald’s. We want to work here. But you take our contributions for granted, and that’s not right,” her statement read.
O’Sullivan said the statements about McDonald’s were not presented by Pepe in context.
“Those statements were not put in context,” he said. “Those statements were mixed in with three days worth of conversation comparing numbers, salaries and benefits. There was a huge amount of conversation over those three days. To not put that into context – that is something you need to do.”
Pepe went on to say that she was disappointed that the board would not hear their concerns face to face.
“We are disappointed that you have refused to meet with our negotiating team. We believe that it is important that you hear us out. The Board is our employer, it tells something when you don’t want to meet to discuss something that is so important to us. In recent years, you have invited us to this room to meet on things that were important to you and we would appreciate the same respect.
“We ask that as you concentrate on your work, that you remember that you have work to do for us, so that we can continue the work we do for students,” she said.
A representative for the Norwich Educators Organization also gave their support for the support staff.
“They are the people who help us educate the future of our community,” President Sue Fenton told the board. “Without them, the Norwich City School District could not function.”