The members of UE Local 222, Sub-local 80 in the Woodbridge public school district have won an important battle, overturning the actions of the board of education (BOE) in privatizing the work previously done by four custodians represented by the union. In a November 15 decision, the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations found the BOE's actions to be illegal and ordered the school board to cease and desist from subcontracting custodial work; post and fill four full-time custodial positions as union jobs; award one of those jobs to Daniela Soradi, a senior employee who had sought a custodial job, with back pay to December 2009; allow fill-in custodian Monserrate Montes to bid for a full-time janitorial position, and pay the union the amount that Montes would have paid in union dues since January 2010.
On December 2, 2009 the school board suspended four full-time custodians on the evening shift on allegations of stealing time. Representing these workers, the union negotiated an agreement under which they resigned one week later. In the meantime, to cover the work of the suspended workers, the BOE had contracted with Master Custodial Services (MCS), a private company, to perform the custodians' general cleaning work, and arranged for the school board's regular landscaping contractor take care of snow and ice removal, work that is also normally done by UE custodians. MCS pays very low wages to immigrant workers, and it brought 8 to 10 workers into the school to perform the work formerly done by UE members.
Prior to the suspension and resignation of the four custodians, the custodial staff had consisted of eight workers - one full-timer and one part-timer on day shift, four full timers and two part-timers on the evening shift. There were also fill-in employees used in cases of absences. The union has represented custodians since it was certified as the bargaining representative. While the contract language allows subcontracting in some circumstances, it also says that "all work of the bargaining unit shall be performed exclusively by employees in the classifications of work covered by this Agreement." The contract also says, "Past practices shall be maintained by the Board."
On December 21, 2009 the BOE ratified the new contract recently negotiated with Sub-local 80. One important change in the new agreement clarified that fill-in custodians are bargaining unit employees, which the BOE had sometimes disputed in the past. The next day UE Field Organizer Colleen Ezzo wrote to the school superintendant, saying the union now expected the four vacant custodian positions to be posted and filled. But the superintendant wrote back and said that due to "substantial savings" in subcontracting the work, the school district had decided to continue the practice, although it was willing to "discuss the issue" with the union.
The union immediately filed a grievance over the subcontracting, and after several unsuccessful meetings with school administrators, the union filed a complaint with the state labor board on April 13, 2010. On June 29, 2010 the union filed another complaint because the school board was refusing to deduct union dues from the pay of Monserrate Montes, a fill-in custodian who had signed dues authorization forms in early 2009 and wanted to be a member of the union. The school board had taken the position that Ms. Montes was a "temporary" employee and therefore not eligible for union membership.
The labor board consolidated these cases and held four hearings from September 2010 to February 2011. The courageous testimony of Daniela Soradi, Monserrate Montes and Local President Vito Esparo greatly helped the union's case. The union was represented in the hearings by UE International Representative Gene Elk. The union won on all issues except one: the labor board concluded that the BOE was not required to deduct union dues from Montes prior to December 21, 2009, but was required to do so after that because the new contract brought fill-in workers into the union.