Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 (CIU 20) has ratified a union contract with their special education bus drivers, monitors, mechanics, custodians, and food service workers at last nights Board meeting, averting another possible strike by a union in the immediate future.
CIU 20 is made up of a consortium of 13 school districts located in Northampton, Monroe, and Pike counties. There are approximately 7000 special needs children throughout Lehigh Valley.
The segment of support personnel that have reached an agreement are members of Transport Workers Union Local 282. The workers unionized themselves on October 19, 2011. Representatives from the TWU and CIU 20 had been negotiating a first contract since that date.
Talks between the two sides stalled last year, with the TWU requesting the PA Labor Board provide a Fact Finder to mediate a non-binding recommendation for a contract. Though the recommendation was ultimately voted down by management, it did succeed in jump starting negotiations, once again.
Both sides appear to be pleased with the revised contract.
The workers voted to approve the contract by a large majority, with only 3 members voting, “no.” The CIU 20 Board of Directors, consisting of one representative from each of the 13 school districts, unanimously voted for ratification.
While CIU 20 can now take satisfaction in one segment of workers not striking in the foreseeable future, their teachers and other support staff, such as secretaries and aides, are still set to strike on September 22nd unless an agreement can be reached with them. Those workers are members of a different union and not represented by the TWU.
As reported in The Morning Call, nearly 700 Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 teachers and staff are set to strike roughly three weeks into the new school year, but administrators say they’re hoping negotiation sessions will bring a deal before that happens.
“We did receive a strike notice from the [workers],” said Charlene Brennan, executive director of IU 20. “However, I’m optimistic that we’ll reach a settlement to prevent a work stoppage.”
If they can’t work a deal in time, it would be the first-ever strike by IU 20 and the first by any of Pennsylvania’s 29 Intermediate Units in more than two decades, Brennan said.
And while negotiators for the union share her goal of striking a deal in time, they sounded less optimistic.
“Leadership is hoping talks will lead to a new contract, too, but there’s a lot of frustration,” said Lauri Lebo, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which is assisting workers in the talks. “We’ve been negotiating for two years.”
Two IU 20 unions have filed notice of a strike, and their members have already authorized leaders to strike if no deal is struck. One union represents 370 teachers and a second represents 320 support staff such as aides, clerical staff and even medical personnel.
Though the TWU supports the teachers union in their desire to achieve a contract, they will not strike with the teachers, should it ultimately come to that, said a source within the TWU Local 282.
TWU Local 282 has instructed the drivers and all membership to report for work, unless management tells them to stay home because of the teachers strike.
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