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In the coming weeks don’t be surprised to read that another school is embattled with workers over a contract. Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, a consortium of 13 school districts in the counties of Northampton, Monroe, and Pike refuse to agree to a first contract with union employees.

It was revealed late yesterday that CIU 20 administration has refused to accept the Labor Board’s Fact Finder recommendation.

CIU 20 provides services for special needs children throughout those counties and the participating school districts within those counties pay a share of the costs that fund CIU 20.

In their decision, CIU 20 administration has refused the recommendation of a fair contract agreement with their support staff of bus drivers, monitors, custodians, maintenance, and mechanics represented by the Transport Workers Union, Local 282.

TWU Local 282 was installed by a vote of the workers in October of 2011 after workers organized due to changes in management personnel that resulted in labor practices that the workers felt warranted unionizing to protect themselves. The union employees have been working without a contract for more than two years.

CIU 20 workers had been non-union since it’s creation in 1971 and had always had good relations with management until 2010. Employees found that the new administration began implementing policies that adversely affected their ability to maintain health insurance and a fair work environment.

“Five years ago, organizing a union wouldn’t have met with success,” said one former employee wishing to remain anonymous. “We were treated with respect and management worked with us instead of against us,” she said.

The union campaign win came after workers approached TWU because of the lack of benefits they had, such as no paid time off of any kind, lacking sick days, holidays, personal days, or bereavement days and the hostile work environment created by the new administration. The workers also faced numerous changes made by the administration, such as increasing the weekly work hours required to receive benefits, which many were not meeting because of the route changes and unfair work assignments from management.

“The straw that broke our backs was reading a local paper in early 2011 and finding out a pay raise was to be cut, followed by a freeze. Then reading that we had agreed to it in negotiations with the administration. Nobody ever talked to us about a cut or pay freeze. We had no say in it, but it sounded good for the Director of CIU 20 to make it appear we were part of her decision,” one former employee said.

The drivers once lost pay after attending a breakfast meeting with a dispatcher and found out only after they received their paychecks. However, the workers were able to receive their pay back only after filing a complaint with the labor board.

“They were treated so unfairly,” said Marlow Wacik, a former bus driver of 35 years, who was part of the in-house union organizing committee and has since retired. “A union will have them all treated equally.”

“Work hours used to be fairly equal among full time employees before the new administrators arrived. The old guard understood what we did and appreciated us. A few in upper management back then had their own children in the special needs programs, so they understood the demands upon us, while seeking to improve the foundation of our Colonial Intermediate Unit. When we lost them we lost the heart of CIU 20 and they were replaced with those who sought only higher salaries at the expense of those non-union workers who couldn’t protect themselves. They don’t respect us,” said another employee.

Recently, unconfirmed accusations have surfaced within the workforce that CIU 20 management has been hiring friends and relations of friends who have been getting the most hours of available work, while workers who have been employed for a decade or more struggle to meet minimum hours required for health benefits.

The discrepancy in fair work assignments became so bad in a previous year that long-time employees were forced to seek partial unemployment benefits from the state, while some new employees often made overtime pay. The workers had to discover for themselves that partial unemployment benefits were available, as no information or guidance was provided by the CIU 20 Human Resources Department.

The CIU 20 administration might be surprised that even new hires understand that a seniority rule is needed. They know that management can change and though they may receive more hours than others this year, in coming years they may find themselves more senior to other new hires that are being treated to better hours because a new manager is taking care of his or her friends. “Favoritism only works when you’re favored and that doesn’t last forever,” said one new hire.

The TWU membership took a vote on Saturday, November 2nd after reviewing the recommended fair contract from the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. The workers voted to accept it fully by a more than 98% majority.