Re “Bulletin: Adjuncts War Is Over. El Marino Wins.”
The School Board often is presented with difficult decisions.
Unfortunately, it isn't always possible to find just the right balance that addresses the needs of every stakeholder.
I always felt that there was a lot of room for compromise in the El Marino Language School adjuncts issue.
But it never really got to the point where one could be worked out. The parents, for instance, had no idea what ACE, the Assn. for Classified Employees, was proposing and whether the proposal was do-able for them.
I believe that the School Board did what it felt it needed to do, but that leaves the adjuncts at El Marino without a better wage and without any benefits.
Again, I am not clear what the proposed official solution will be to the El Marino issue…I believe that this will be discussed at the Board meeting on May 22.
When the union initially broached this subject with the School District, it was because we felt these ladies deserved to be more fairly compensated for the important work they were doing – and because they were doing our bargaining unit work, they should be part of our unit.
I realize the parents saw this in a different light, but the motivation for the union had nothing to do with our garnering more “power.”
As you and I have previously discussed, adding another 20 members to our unit would not have resulted in the union becoming more powerful. Nor would the $3 per month that our union would have realized from the $14.27 per month the employees would have paid in dues.
Power or influence is something that comes when people respect what you stand for, what you say and what you do.
But for ACE, it wouldn't have come from bringing the adjuncts into our unit.
Ms. Hamme, President of the Assn. for Classified Employees, may be contacted at antiquer01@aol.com
