Beaver Dam ESP Fight Unilateral Reduction in Hours

Beaver Dam Support Staff Association President Lynn Gruenewald assists two Beaver Dam High School students as they prepare for the first day of school. Gruenewald, a secretary in the guidance office, has worked for the district for nine years.

By Sarah Jancich
Assistant Editor

Members of the Beaver Dam Support Staff Association are returning to work this month despite being laid off during the summer break.

In an effort to cope with budget woes caused by state-imposed revenue controls, the Beaver Dam School District unilaterally cut two hours a week from the schedules of all BDSSA members except food service workers.

The district informed staff of the two-hour layoff by mail in late June. Each member affected by the cuts received a layoff notice accompanied with a reassignment notice – with two fewer hours than his or her previous assignment.

BDSSA President Lynn Gruenewald said she's shocked and disappointed by the district's actions because the two sides recently bargained and jointly decided against a reduction in hours. BDSSA and the school board ratified a contract in April after working nearly the entire school year without one.

During the bargaining process, the district indicated budget shortfalls limited its ability to provide wage increases, she said. The district proposed several options to the BDSSA to close its budget gap, including a cut in vacation time, holiday pay, or working hours. Gruenewald said the union refused to seriously consider those options, and asked the school board to work collaboratively with the union's negotiators to find a solution.

"When we shook hands on it, we thought we were bargaining in good faith," she said. "But then the district imposed the two-hour cut anyway."

The BDSSA immediately filed a grievance because the board's actions breached the seniority guidelines and layoff procedure collectively bargained by both parties, said Armin Blaufuss, executive director of the Winnebagoland UniServ.

The school board considered the grievance August 16 in closed session, a violation of the state's open meeting law, he said. After coming out of the closed session, the board announced it would not consider the BDSSA grievance, thus sending the matter to arbitration. Blaufuss said the BDSSA also filed a prohibited practice complaint against the board for its failure to bargain in good faith.

Gruenewald said the cuts will have far-reaching impacts by wiping out salary increases negotiated in the latest contract and reducing health benefits for some members. "We're giving away the raise we bargained, and more," she said.

BDSSA members must work 35 hours per week to qualify for health insurance benefits. As a result of the two-hour layoff, 12 members lost their benefits, and nine more will have to pay a substantially larger portion of the premium, which leaves those employees with little or no take-home pay. Some had to resign because they could no longer afford to work for the district, Gruenewald said.

Gruenewald said another source of frustration among BDSSA members is the district's lack of communication on how staff schedules will be adjusted. For staff members who work directly with students, starting late or leaving early interferes with the employee's ability to do his or her job. The district suggested that staffers take longer lunch breaks, but Gruenewald said the temptation to work through that extra time will exist, and the district will get the same level of service from its employees for less money.

For that reason, she's encouraging members to only work their contracted hours until the issue is resolved. "If they [the board members] think everything is going to go on as usual, it's not," she said. "There may be kids alone in the parking lot at the end of the day because the teaching assistants had to go home. That's the finality of it."

Posted August 30, 2004