COAL TOWNSHIP - AFSCME members employed at Shamokin Area School District declined a request to forego pay raises next school year, but the process they used has been discredited by the union's exclusive local bargaining agent.
Von Treas said Wednesday the process breached protocol and - regardless of the outcome - shouldn't be considered as an official stance for Local 2434 of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
She said if proper protocol is followed, an official vote could be taken.
AFSCME members include teacher aides, cafeteria workers, some secretaries and members of the maintenance/custodial staff. They are scheduled to receive a 40 cent per hour raise under their existing contract, which expires at the end of next school year.
The school board voted Tuesday to offer those members an early retirement incentive. Any member who retires by June 30 will be eligible to receive a cash payout of $500 for each continual year of service. Individual payouts max out at $15,000.
Meanwhile, the teachers union is expected to vote next week on potential concessions. They met en masse Thursday to discuss the idea of a pay freeze and foregoing tuition reimbursement, according to Sam Schiccatano, president of the district teachers union.
Schiccatano said he'll talk to Zack to find out whether or not the potential concessions would lead to reinstating any or all of the 21 staff members furloughed last month and reinstituting the programs lost through the furloughs.
After that, he said the tentative plan is for the teachers union to vote Tuesday.
Agent not notified
Superintendent James Zack said at Tuesday's school board meeting that the district requested both unions forego scheduled raises. The teachers were still considering a pay freeze, he said, while AFSCME members voted against foregoing a pay raise.
Treas, who attended the meeting, said the process was incorrect and Local 2434 had not yet taken a stance.
She said proper protocol is for an employer to send a letter notifying the bargaining agent of a request. If that had been done, she said she would have posted notice of a vote and scheduled a meeting, where she would have explained the request and its ramifications before members voted.
"Don't make it look like AFSCME is tying your hands. They're not," Treas, who had bargained the current contract between the district and Local 2434, said Wednesday of Zack's announcement. "Most administrators know this. They know. I'm surprised Mr. Zack wouldn't know that."
Crunched for time
Rosalie Smoogen, president of Local 2434, was requested by Zack in a memo dated April 13 to ask union members to forego the raises and consider any other concessions that could assist Shamokin Area as its board looks to close a budget deficit that once topped $5.6 million.
The memo was dated two days after the local chapter's monthly meeting. A response was sought by May 1 and Smoogen said she felt crunched for time.
"As far as I'm concerned, I did what I felt was best," she said Wednesday, adding that she'd received some phone calls from members supporting her actions.
Smoogen followed the directive. She and three other members of the local chapter's executive board sought signatures of the membership, she said, which she counted at approximately 95 members who pay dues in full.
Union members were asked to sign a paper and check either "yes" or "no" to the district's request.
Seven refused to sign, Smoogen said, and seven others were unable to be reached. The rest voted overwhelmingly, she said, against the request.
"Fair share" members - those who pay a fraction of union dues and are not full members - are ineligible to vote.
'Everyone' must be included
On May 4, Smoogen replied in an e-mail sent by Zack the day before that "It was the consensus of the AFSCME membership to 'not' forego their forty cent per hour raise for next year," adding that she shared the results with Steve Curran, business manager, prior to May 1.
"It's very well that a lot of members may have said "no," Treas said. "But what were they presented with? What do they know? What were they asked to give up?"
Treas didn't fault Smoogen for her actions, saying she was put in a tough position.
"She only did what she was told, which she has to do. But she's not the exclusive bargaining agent. I have to make sure everyone is included in that (vote)," Treas said.
"If one of those members is missed, that could cause a big problem," she added.
Zack said at Tuesday's meeting that he'd send a formal request to Treas. Treas said she'd take it to union members and follow protocol.
"I can't say my members will forego those raises. They have to vote on that. They all have to have an equal opportunity to do that," Treas said.
Treas worked with Northumberland County commissioners who, earlier this spring, laid off two AFSCME members. The notification procedure for that move, she said, was correct.