In September, arbitrator Elliott H. Goldstein ordered SIPI to reinstate, with back pay, benefits and seniority, the 20 bargaining unit members who were laid off in spring 2005. IEF estimates the award at upward of $1 million. Fifteen of the 20 members laid off held staff positions. Five were instructors.

“I’m glad the union stepped in for us and took care of us,” says Shaw, who is looking forward to returning to her job as a residence specialist. “I am grateful that we had a union. [Reinstatement] wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

SIPI, a two-year community college for Native Americans, testified that the reduction in force (RIF) was a budgetary necessity.

But Goldstein didn’t buy management’s argument. He questioned the fact that following the RIF, SIPI hired 14 new staff, at higher salaries, who basically performed the same jobs as those who were laid off.

Moreover, Goldstein found that SIPI violated the collective bargaining agreement and did not use “fair and uniform” procedures to determine who would be laid off.

“A lot of people in government today think unions are irrelevant,” says IEF president Pat Carr. “We think this is an important victory. People do need unions to look out for them and to protect their rights.”

IEF field representative Susan Sandoval says there is more to the case than a reduction in force.

“One of the key architects of this layoff was a contractor [and former BIA employee] by the name of Joe Jarrett,” says Sandoval. Jarret, she says, recommended the layoffs and testified under oath that SIPI had paid him more than $50,000 in fees for his services.

“We took issue with SIPI for doing this [at the same time] they said the layoffs were necessary because of a budget deficit,” Sandoval says. “The same services [Jarrett provided] to SIPI were available through the Office of Personnel Management for free.”

“SIPI is one of the finest programs in the BIA,” says Carr. “It has doubled its enrollment and maintained high levels of education despite repeated and arbitrary budget cuts and staff furloughs.

“The IEF successfully fought this petty political maneuver and will continue to fight others like it because we know they serve no other purpose than to undermine the success of Indian education programs.”

It took Shaw about one year to find a new job with comparable pay. Even though she has found employment elsewhere, Shaw is looking forward to returning to SIPI.

“I’m anxious to go back,” says Shaw, adding, “everybody should have a union.”