Presenting a United Front

New York members negotiate a powerful contract and gain 'newfound respect.'

Photo by Jim Commentucci

The contract that Lynn Romanick, president of the Baldwinsville Educational Support Professionals Association (BESPA) in New York, signed in April featured some extraordinary gains: an across the board 4.5 percent salary increase, increased longevity stipends, better medical insurance coverage, increased pay for summer school employees, and release time for the Association president.

Not bad. In fact, in these times, the gains are pretty amazing. What's more, bargaining proceeded smoothly. The district approached the local last fall for negotiations. Then, after only four meetings, the local had a tentative agreement--three months before its existing contract would expire.

The gains realized in this new contract wouldn't have happened without the hard work and solidarity BESPA members exhibited three years ago.

Back then, the average salary among members of the local, which represents clerical staff, paraeducators, and school nurses, was $16,500. (It's now about $19,400.) But more than half of BESPA's 227 members earned less than $16,000 a year. Ninety-nine percent of the members worked full-time positions, but still couldn't earn a living wage. Many worked second and third jobs to survive. Others worked 10 to 15 hours of weekly overtime for the school district without any extra compensation.

"Our mean salary was the second lowest in the state," says Romanick, a teaching assistant at McNamara Elementary School. "More than 60 percent of my members were below the poverty level for a family of three. We realized it was a do or die situation."

So in April 2000, BESPA went to the bargaining table asking for a salary increase, longevity stipends, and a paid lunch for the clerical staff--the only job group not compensated for their lunch time. Members picketed school board meetings and open houses to bring awareness to their issues. But the school system wasn't listening. After more than a year of negotiations, the two sides reached an impasse.

"As time went on the members gained strength," says Romanick. "It was a typical situation of they're mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore."

Clerical staff stopped working beyond the 37.5 hours for which they were paid. Paraeducators stopped attending evening open houses and parent meetings on their own time. Everyone wore buttons and T-shirts of support and teachers joined the ESPs on the picket lines outside the schools. Meanwhile, parents and Association members wrote letters to the local newspaper highlighting the contributions ESPs make in the schools.

"The one thing that impressed me was when Lynn said, 'We don't want to get rich, we just want to get a living wage' and I think that turned the tide," says Stephanie Mitchell, a secretary at Ray Middle School and member of the negotiation team. "We had to be united and it made a great impact."

Finally, after almost two years of negotiations, the district offered a new contract. The ESPs received a 4.65 percent salary increase each year of the three-year contract. With the added longevity stipends, some members received as much as a 40 percent increase in their overall salary. Clerical staff also received a paid lunch, which amounted to an additional 5.25 percent salary increase.

"The administration has a newfound respect for this local and an appreciation for what they do for the children in Baldwinsville," says UniServ Director Susan Sinicropi.

The ESPs still feel the effects of that monumental negotiation as well, Romanick adds. They now receive overtime pay. More members also serve as Association building reps and on the various school district committees. Most importantly, the local, which used to carry a significant number of agency fee payers, now has 100 percent membership among the job groups it represents.

"It's amazing to see how many people are involved now. Morale is so much better than it was before," Romanick says. "There's also an awareness of what NEA is now. We've come a long way in connecting our members with the organization."

--Kristen Loschert