Union, SP board still at odds

 

Some of the information contained in a media statement issued by South Point schools officials Wednesday was incorrect, the president of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) Local 480 said Thursday.

Superintendent Ken Cook said the union that represents 79 cooks, bus drivers, janitors and other non-teaching employees had rejected the board’s final offer for a new three-year contract.

Sandi Baise said she was aware of the written statement distributed to the media Wednesday.

“They emailed them to all the teachers yesterday (Wednesday),” Baise said.

Baise said it is not true that the board and union had reached an agreement on “most issues.” She said the union has signed off on only 5 of 21 requests for changes.

“That’s not ‘most,’” Baise said.

Baise said the union began negotiations “asking for nothing” but hoping the classified personnel would be treated the same as the teachers, whose contract with the board was simply rolled over. Baise said from the beginning, the board, through its negotiator, Robert Cross, of the Portsmouth-based Cross Management, had taken an all-or-nothing, accept-the-contract proposal-as–a-whole-or-none-of-it approach that has left the OAPSE members frustrated.

She questioned why the district wants to reduce the hours for the coordinator of cooks position from 30 to 13 or less after 12 years of funding the job.

She said the union had asked the district officials to leave the job as it is for two more years, when the person in that position retires. District negotiators refused. The union contends the job should be left as it is and the position does require 30 hours a week to perform the duties correctly.

“You ask any other district in the county and they will tell you that’s not the way it works,” Baise said.

Baise said the union had not signed off on anything regarding health insurance, contrary to what district officials had indicated in their press release. Under the district plan, those who pay nothing for health insurance would start paying a portion of the premium.

She said while it’s true that OAPSE members on the family plan will pay less under the proposed policy, that change will only affect three OAPSE members.

District officials also want to remove a clause in the contract that allows the union to dictate the classification and reclassification of some classified positions. Cook had said in his prepared statement this provision hampers the board’s ability to manage the district. Baise said the district wants to cut some positions and fill them with employees who essentially would do the same work for less pay and a different job title.

“They want to replace teacher’s aides with instructional aides who are paid less but give them the same duties (as the teacher’s aides),” Baise said. “They don’t want to change the job. They want to change the title and the pay.”

Baise said the union wanted to begin negotiations in April but was told Cross, who negotiates for the district, was not available then. As for now, Baise said the union and district are in a quandary about what to do next. She said she is sure of one thing: The district was never serious about its respect for union members. She said the union is not asking for raises even though they are among the lowest-paid OAPSE members in the county.

“We’ve been told for years and years we’re all family,” Baise said. “Now we know what part of the family we are.”