ASPIRA challenges school union election
The charter operator seeks to block certification of a union at Olney Charter High School, despite recent assurances that it would negotiate in good faith.
CHARTER OPERATOR ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania is seeking to block certification of a union at its Olney Charter High School, despite recent assurances that it would negotiate in good faith.
ASPIRA filed a brief yesterday with the National Labor Relations Board asserting that the agency has no jurisdiction over a union vote because the North Philly school is a public entity and the NLRB's purview is limited to private-sector employees.
The move comes a week after Olney Charter staffers voted, 104-38, in favor of a union after a three-year organizing effort.
Teachers there expressed outrage over the situation yesterday.
"I'm deeply disgusted," said History teacher Hanako Franz. "This just tells us even more that we need legal protections if we want a say in our jobs. They can just change anything in one moment."
Meanwhile, ASPIRA is stepping up efforts to avert a "Yes" vote at its John B. Stetson Charter School, which will hold a union vote this month. ASPIRA's lawyers filed Tuesday with the NLRB to block the Stetson election, citing the same issue.
ASPIRA also hired a group of self-described "union-busters" who have kicked American Federation of Teachers organizers out of Stetson, refused to disclose their own names or their association to staffers, and prevented subpoenas from being served to ASPIRA personnel, sources said.
ASPIRA sources told the Daily News late yesterday that the consultants spoke during a mandatory meeting with employees at a third school, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School, to pre-empt an organizing effort.
Thomas Darden, chief operations officer at ASPIRA, did not respond to emails or phone calls from the People Paper seeking comment yesterday.
But minutes after Olney's April 30 vote, Darden issued a statement expressing support for a union: "Throughout this process we have always said that we would respect a vote of the Olney teachers and staff. Now that they have voted in favor of union representation, we will negotiate in good faith with them to reach a fair agreement."
Pressed by labor advocates on Twitter, ASPIRA's former executive director, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, tweeted: "I support the right of all workers to unionize w/o fear of intimidation & will follow up."
Sanchez did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
One Stetson teacher expressed frustration with her employer in an interview yesterday.
"I really wish ASPIRA would reconsider where their funds would be better spent, instead of hiring men who call themselves 'union-busters' to come in and dissuade our staff" from organizing, said Elizabeth Kim, a fifth-grade teacher, adding that the meetings have "only created undue stress and tension in a working environment that should be focused on our students."
One consultant threatened AFT organizer Victoria Miller as he and others kicked her out of Stetson, saying, "We're going to come after you in a real uncomfortable way," she recalled.
Miller said the consultants told her she could not be inside Stetson because it is "private property" - a description that conflicts with ASPIRA's argument that the schools are public entities.
Online: ph.ly/DNEducation
