CPS custodians' union wants contract to include due process for fired, suspended workers
A team from the teachers union, the Columbia Missouri National Education Association, has been in collective bargaining sessions with a district bargaining team. The negotiations have not gone smoothly.
Another district team, with some of the same members, has been in collective bargaining sessions with the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 773 which is seeking to represent CPS custodians.
The fledgling local union is trying to organize workers, but union officials say the district’s strategy in negotiations is to try to bust the union before it gets off the ground. They have 53 signed union cards and potentially 170 members.
Union officials say the disagreement is on one point: The district won’t allow a grievance procedure for due process for custodians who have been fired or suspended without pay in the negotiated contract.
“We can’t come to agreement over any protections for workers,” said Regina Guevara, union field representative.
“The heart of the agreement is protection for employees,” said union attorney Paul Prendergast. “They've refused to allow employees to have that. All we’re looking for are basic due process procedures.”
Prendergast said the provision wouldn’t cost the district anything unless a custodian firing or suspension led to arbitration.
The union representatives said without some level of job protection, there is no reason to be in a union. Kevin Starr, union business manager, said it’s a union-busting tactic. He said without the provision, the custodians are second-class workers.
“This comes down to class warfare,” Starr said. “This comes down to the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’ ”
Linda Quinley, CPS chief financial officer and spokeswoman for the district’s negotiating team, said the district can’t agree to the grievance procedure for employees who are fired or suspended without pay, because that would conflict with district policy that excludes staff filing a grievance when fired or suspended.
Starr said that’s not an adequate explanation, because the policy includes language that allows for a collective bargaining agreement with a separate grievance procedure that applies only to members of the bargaining unit.
Quinley said the language is the reason the district won’t include the wording in a collective bargaining agreement that would override board policy.
“We believe the board policies are in place for all employees to create equity for all employees and to assure that the board of education retains the management rights they need,” Quinley said.
The laborers’ union and the school district have their next scheduled collective bargaining session on Wednesday.
Quinley said the district rejects the idea that custodians are second-class employees, while acknowledging that certified, tenured teachers have a different status in the district.
“We don’t regard any of our employees as second class,” Quinley said.
She said the district also disputes the claim that it’s trying to make the union look unappealing.
“We’re coming at it strictly from the standpoint of honoring our board policy,” Quinley said. “We have no intent to bust the union.”
Andrea Follett, CPS director of human resources and employment law, said employment can be ended at any time and for any legal reason by either the employee or the employer. She said her department reviews every termination to ensure compliance with laws and policies.
Guevara said the disagreement isn't related to pay.
“It is about fairness and equality and having a dependable job,” she said.
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