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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Buffalo United Charter School Staff Rally - WBEN NewsRadio 930 : Buffalo & Niagara Falls, NY

Buffalo United Charter School Staff Rally - WBEN NewsRadio 930 : Buffalo & Niagara Falls, NY

Buffalo United Charter School Staff Rally


Teachers, aides and counselors at the Buffalo United Charter School rallied this afternoon outside the school on Manhattan St., going public with their labor woes.

"We decided to go public with our labor dispute" says Barb Coogan, a librarian at the school. The staff according to Coogan voted unanimously a year ago to unionize but the school to date has not recognized the union opting instead to hire a lawyer and take the issue to court. Coogan says "this law judge in Buffalo found that we were private employees yet the same company that manages our school manages a school in Brooklyn, found them to be public employees."

The staff according to Coogan simply wants a voice. "We don't have a voice here, we are told what to do, we are just employees, we are not respected, we are not supported." Coogan says employees are the trained educators who work with the kids and know what they need.