AFT PSRP Chapter Receives Labor-Management Grant
The relationship between labor and management can sometimes be adversarial and contentious, which does not help any organization accomplish its goals and mission.  One way to alleviate tension is to form a labor-management committee. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) provides labor-management grants every year through its Labor-Management Cooperation Grant Program. These grants provide a novel approach to collaborative labor-management communication and problem solving. (more)

Secretaries Fight Privatization Attempt
When school districts find themselves with financial problems, they often see privatization of support services as part of the solution. The economic downturn has starved the finances of many state, county and local governments. In Detroit, the unemployment rate is 30 percent, and the schools are being run by emergency financial manager Robert Bob, who has already privatized transportation and is considering doing the same to food service, security operations and secretarial staff. To combat this privatization threat, the Detroit Association of Educational Office Employees (DAEOE) put together their Community Outreach Initiative (COI). (more)

SRP Conference Donations Help Communities
SRPs in New York state recently met in Albany for their annual conference where they enjoyed informative workshops, union solidarity, inspiring speeches and some fun and socialization. In addition to their professional and union emphasis, they also focused on students with their annual book drive, which is a major part of their conference. Every year, SRP conference participants bring a book, or books, to be contributed to a school district. This year participants brought 355 books. This year’s recipient was the Sidney Central School District in Delaware County, which suffered tremendous flooding in 2006. (more)

Public Employees Get OSHA-Level Protection
Any school or public facility can have health and safety hazards that can lead to tragic injuries and work-related illnesses. Thanks to approval from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), public employees in Illinois now have a federally certified entitlement to a safe and healthy workplace because that state is the latest to receive approval to administer an occupational safety and health plan for its public employees. The other states and territory that have similar laws are New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and the Virgin Islands. (more)

'Temporary' Employees Get Bargained Benefits
Temporary, by definition, means for a limited time. It has become an unfair employment practice to hire temporary workers, temps who do the same work as permanent workers but who do not get salary or benefits. Such was the situation at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Ill. (A chapter of local 1600, Cook County College Teachers Union.) Pursuant to the Classified Staff contract bargained in 2008, the union and management agreed to look this year at temporary employees who were performing work similar to bargaining unit employees.The result was a great supplemental agreement for 15 temporary workers. (more)

MSP Course Helps Paras Meet Standards
Training and standards for paraprofessionals has been spotty over the years.  In 2004, No Child Left Behind (NLCB) established standards for paras who worked in Title I schools to become highly qualified. In response, the AFT developed the Meeting Standards for Paraprofessionals (MSP) course that helped many paras meet the Title I requirements nationwide.  Recently, in Florida, the governor signed the Florida Differentiated Accountability (FLDA) law, which mandated all paraprofessionals in non-Title I schools to be highly qualified by the 2011-2012 school year. The Polk Education Association (PEA) had traveled a similar road before. (more)

Service Personnel File Suit For School Bus Safety
Student safety is important in school and on the school bus.  Safety on the school bus involves student behavior, driver training and the condition of the school bus. The West Virginia School Service Personnel Association (WVSSPA) recently sued the Monongalia County Board of Education alleging that the district was putting student’s lives in danger by not properly investigating privately owned buses used to transport students. (more)

State of School Nutrition 2009 Survey Results
According to the 2009 State of School Nutrition survey more than 77 percent of the 1,200 food service directors surveyed stated that funding and  the cost of the food/food preparation are the most pressing issues facing cafeteria programs nationwide as schools begin a new year. (more)

Paras Get New Pact
Contract negotiations during an economic downturn require patience and persistence. That's what the negotiating team for the Allentown Federation of Paraprofessionals (AFP) in Allentown, Pa., displayed during their recent contract negotiations with the school district. Bargaining started in the spring of 2008, was stalled when a tentative agreement was rejected in January 2009 and recently reached fruition in a new five-year contract.  (more)

Baltimore Expands Para-to-Teacher Career Ladder
In one of the first such teacher training programs anywhere, the Baltimore Teachers Union is extending its career ladder to paraprofessionals who are starting out with only a high school diploma.  (more)

Assistants Get New Contract
Tough economic times aren't usually the best time to negotiate a contract. But for the members of the Tinley Park Educational Support Council negotiation team, the "open and problem-solving oriented negotiations" with the Tinley Park school district #146, which began in February, went off without a hitch.  (more)

Small Locals Make Gains in Tough Economy
The economy is down, unemployment is rising and many people are feeling uncertain about the future. But even in the midst of this poor economic environment, a few SRP locals in New York made gains at the bargaining table.  (more)

School Support Staff all over the Country Are Choosing AFT/PSRP.
View a list of collective bargaining election victories over the past 12 months.