Education Support Professionals Organize For Workplace Justice
In September 2014, a group of custodians with the Southside Education Association (SEA) in San Antonio, Texas, upended the order of their school district. After issuing a grievance and letter of no confidence to officials with the Southside Independent School District, SEA members would soon close a shameful chapter in the district’s history. But it wasn’t easy.
“There were a lot of arbitrary decisions being made to include involuntary transfers, work assignments, overtime, interviews and supervision of the custodial staff,” says Paty Marquez, an organizational development specialist with the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA). “Depending on who you were and how the wind blew was how many workplace decisions were made.”
Disreputable practices by some district supervisors included favoritism, custodians being involuntarily transferred for capricious reasons, scheduling issues, supply requisitions not being processed, supplies not being ordered, retaliation against those who expressed their opinions, and a supervisor’s abuse of power.
“The complaints piled up and evolved into an organizing issue,” says Marquez, who worked with the custodians and SEA on the case. “The custodians did not understand personnel procedures at the time … procedures that most districts have and that make sense in order to have a smooth running department.”
With SEA and TSTA staff behind them, the custodians proved to be fast learners who were soon documenting instances and events at school they believed to be ethical Education Support Professionals Organize For Workplace Justice - NEA Today: