New local perseveres despite challenges

nionizing hasn’t been easy for the Albany Leadership Charter School Union. The group faced an uphill battle from the start when management initially ignored their request for recognition and later dragged its feet over a start date for contract negotiations.

Despite the challenges, the 50-member local still voted overwhelmingly in November to affiliate with NYSUT, due to high staff turnover and having no voice in the workplace.

But there finally may be light at the end of the tunnel. The group held a productive June 5 negotiating session and the local is optimistic that relations with the administration are improving.

“The school’s attorney opened the meeting by apologizing for getting off to a rocky start,” said NYSUT labor relations specialist Jennifer Romer, noting that the school received the local’s first proposal and set future negotiating dates to work toward a first contract. “It’s safe to say that the union has the board’s attention; they’re signaling that they’re willing to engage for the better of all parties.”

Although the local still faces a long road ahead, the meeting gives them hope that their hard-fought efforts are finally paying off. Nearly a dozen leaders and members attended a public school board meeting in May to deliver a petition signed by hundreds of supporters asking the administration to bargain with them in good faith. Instead, after an hour-long wait, the board concluded its agenda and shuttered its doors in a private “executive session” leaving ALCSU leaders unheard.

“We were going to do what we usually do which is make some remarks as a union during the public comment period,” said ALCSU President Peter Keller. The group started the petition to rally support for their efforts. Signers included former ALCS staffers, community members and concerned citizens; the group also gathered signatures from delegates at the NYSUT RA following Keller’s presentation.

With members clad in purple union T-shirts, the local’s plan had been to present the school board members with a poster-sized, laminated placard listing the names of the hundreds of supporters who’d signed it.

“It’s ironic because the board did finally schedule negotiations with us [on June 5] and the majority of what I wanted to say was thank you for hearing us,” said Keller who still plans to submit the remarks he’d wanted to deliver to the board that evening.

“I want them to be aware that the membership is happy that they’ve made some decisions to move forward … and that the union membership of the school is a voice worth hearing.”