Service Workers Union Comes Out Swinging at School District

Members of the union that represents maintenance workers and custodians roundly criticized the school district Tuesday night for a range of offenses they say includes unfairly targeting union leaders, a lack of transparency and providing misleading data to the school board. 

About a dozen members of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, attended Tuesday night's meeting to speak out in light of recent suggestions by the superintendent to demote two school service workers and cut one custodial position. 

suggested the changes as part of cost-saving measures related to a possible of $1.2 million in 2011-12. Albany Unified School District officials held last week outlining possible cuts. 

Much of the public comment last week revolved around parent, teacher and student resistance to cutting school music programs, library services and losing the seventh period offered to many Albany youth.

Tuesday night, a lengthy school board meeting included numerous comments from district maintenance workers and high-ranking union representatives, who came to the meeting with signs sporting slogans such as "Save SEIU Services!" and "Where is the rest of the stimulus fund monies?"

School officials readily admitted that the maintenance staff is already stretched thin. 

"There are two extremely hard-working individuals doing the work of much more," said the superintendent.

"We know the schools are huge and there aren't many of you," said Board President Pat Low, to at least two workers in attendance.

Anthony Douglas, chief lead custodian for the district, said, with "any further cuts, we would be in a bad position" to complete all the work. He described how he'd worked his way up in the district, and said he takes his job seriously.

He pointed to numerous maintenance positions cut in the past that never were reinstated. 

"You don't know how much we're doing," Dee Santos, chief lead maintenance worker for Albany schools, told the board. "They never hired anybody in maintenance since Dr. Wong (the prior superintendent) came in. We got a lot of work. We don't complain. We just do it.... I hope, before you vote, you think about that."

Demotions would be "a slap in the face" to Douglas and Santos, Mynette Theard, SEIU industry chair for schools, told officials.

But union representatives said the issue goes far beyond the suggested demotions and single position loss. They said Santos and Douglas, both active union leaders, had been targeted by the district for the second year running, while others in the department had not.

"I don't know what has to be said to make sure people understand there is a problem here," said Angela Thomas, a union representative. 

"When you keep targeting the same leadership of SEIU, then there is a problem," continued Kaden Kratzer, SEIU field representative. "We're seeing that two years in a row. And we're saying 'Cut it out.'" 

Union members said there have been numerous violations by the school district, including a breach of confidentiality between union workers and school officials, and a practice of cross-training people for the same positions in a way that is out of compliance with union rules.

Kratzer said some of the district's statements about finances didn't sit well. Many school districts, he said, function with a 3 to 5 percent reserve. Albany's 12 percent reserve should give it more flexibility in handling labor issues, he continued.

He also said the district should strongly consider concessions from employees before "jumping to pushing them out of the door."

Union reps asked about federal stimulus money the district in November. (The district set aside roughly $310,000, for the coming fiscal year, after giving out $402,000.)

"This year here you are talking about layoffs, talking about demoting individuals," Kratzer said. "So where is the rest of the money for education funds? Where did they go?"

(The superintendent said earlier in the meeting that she decided to give out the bonuses when state officials indicated flat funding for schools in 2011-12.)

Nely Obligacion, SEIU field supervisor for schools, questioned the budget numbers the district provided to the board, saying they seemed to indicate higher savings than actually could be realized by the proposed staffing changes.

"It doesn't add up," she said, adding that worker salaries actually are lower than numbers that appeared in a district spreadsheet. "I'm really concerned because I feel that all the figures are manipulated."

She said the union would challenge any final decision based on the numbers if they weren't carefully reviewed by the board. 

The superintendent said the district would "double check" and "triple check" the numbers, but asked the board to vote to "get the (budget) process started."

Before the board Tuesday night was a resolution to reduce district services, including the SEIU positions above, the facilities supervisor, several secretaries and a part-time transporation clerk for special education. The board needed to act quickly, district officials said, because of a 45-day notice requirement related to employment contracts.

The board voted (one member said "reluctantly") to approve the resolution; had it not, positions would have had to continue into the next fiscal year, which would cause a number of complications, the superintendent said. 

School officials made clear that their vote was not a final decision, but simply the initial authorization, in case the district does move forward with cuts in May. Officials said they are waiting for the May 14 revised budget from Gov. Jerry Brown to have a better sense of where things could stand in 2011-12.

They said they will take a closer look at all possible financial solutions, along with the district's budget numbers, during the . 

Gary Jimenez, a vice president of SEIU Local 1021, said the union understands that "solutions need to come from higher up (in Sacramento) to get all of us out of ."

But, he added, "what we do request, as labor, is transparency. We're willing to come to the table, we're willing to discuss the needs. Maybe there are alternate solutions that we can bring to the table." 

Jimenez gave an example of a nearby district that could have been subject to a union lawsuit because of a contract violation; he said the union instead chose to voice its concerns, and the two groups were able to reach an agreement together. 

"Deal with us fairly, deal with us openly, and deal with us transparently, and I think we'll be able to avoid any difficult issues," he said.

School board member Ron Rosenbaum replied that the union would do well to avoid threats, or assertions that the district had not treated employees with respect.

"It hurts me deeply to think of any one of the four people we've mentioned losing anything," he said, in reference to Santos and Douglas, along with two other facilities positions on the chopping block. "I know them better than any of the folks who spoke. Let's take the threats off the table and deal with labor issues as labor issues, please."

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at emilier@patch.com.