Union Battle in North Kingstown After School Committee Fires 26 Employees
Monday, July 09, 2012
Hundreds of Rhode Islanders have signed an online petition calling on the North Kingstown School Committee to reconsider a decision to lay off 26 janitors while moving to privatize the school district’s custodial department.
The petition, which had 738 signatures as of this publication, criticizes the committee for turning over the custodial jobs to the GCA Services Group, a national company which claims the average client saves 20 percent by outsourcing custodial work.
The decision, which the School Committee voted 5-1 to support two weeks ago, is a part of a series of efforts to reduce costs within a district that was facing a $211,000 deficit, according to North Kingstown Patch. The committee has also frozen the salaries of members of the Educational Support Professionals (ESP) union as part of unilateral contract changes that also included an increase in health insurance co-pays and reduce sick and vacation time.GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
“My co-workers and I made $1.3 million in concessions to the district,” wrote North Kingstown ESP President Sandi Blankenship, who filed the petition. “And when the committee sought an additional $400,000, we all pitched in, took a big hit, and came up with the money the committee sought.”
Blankenship claims GCA plans to “slash wages and other benefits” while altering health insurance plans.
“The difference between what we all think of as insurance (Blue Cross, United Healthcare, etc.) and limited benefit plans? With typical insurance coverage – the sort we are all used to - our costs were covered once we paid our deductible. So if someone’s child had to go to the hospital, the family could focus on treatment and care and not costs. If the bill reached $5000, those costs were covered once we paid our deductible,” she wrote.
The GCA has, however, agreed to hire back all 26 of the laid off custodians pending background checks. Still, Blankenship’s petition takes the company to task for its record in other states.
“We also have serious concerns about the company the five committee members plan to hire: GCA Services,” she wrote. “Their record troubles us. Independent news services – found with a quick Google search - have documented the serious problems with GCA, including hiring and placing a registered sex offender in a Texas middle school despite GCA’s screening efforts.”
In May, the North Kingstown Town Council voted to raise taxes by just under three percent, but refused the school department’s request to increase funding by $713,000. The Council instead chose to offer the department level funding, which left the School Committee searching for ways to close a budget gap.
A special meeting to discuss the layoffs and changes to the union contract is scheduled for Tuesday.
Dan McGowan can be reached at [email protected].
