I am writing to clarify exactly where we are with regard to the negotiations between the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation and Teamsters Local 215.
There have been two issues that the School Administration has insisted must be addressed in these negotiations. One is to have employees have the choice as to whether or not they join the union or pay an agency fee, and the other is to have the School Board be the final arbiter of employee grievances.
While we felt it was unfair and unnecessary to change the existing perfectly legal agency fee provision, in the spirit of compromise, we agreed to allow the employee a choice on joining the union or paying agency fees. Under our proposal all existing employees will have a ten (10) day period to opt out of union representation and the fees associated with that representation, and all new employees will have the choice as to whether or not they join the union. The EVSC can now stop repeating over and over that our union won’t agree to do away with the agency shop.
The demand by the EVSC to be the final step in the grievance procedure is a proposal that no fair minded person could ever agree to. The School Board is the party that approves and signs this contract. In other words, it is a party to the contract. There is nothing fair or just about a dispute resolution procedure where one party to the dispute gets to act as judge and jury.
Based on the response we have gotten, it is clear to me that the overwhelming majority of this community also agrees that the School Board should not be the final arbiter of disputes.
We have made a variety of proposals on this issue, but have been unwilling to agree with the Board being the final step of the grievance procedure.
Because of the EVSC’s negotiating approach, none of our members’ proposals or concerns have even been talked about.
Last year, the EVSC held quickie elections on union “recertification†for both our bus driver unit and secretarial unit. The bus drivers affirmed their desire for union representation by a vote of 120-27 and the secretaries affirmed their desire for union representation by a vote of 70-27.
At that time Superintendent David Smith said “our employees have a voice, and they certainly have spoken. As we have said before, we will honor their wishes.â€Â It is time for those words to be lived up to.
Sincerely,
Chuck Whobrey
President and Business Manager of Teamsters Local 215