The Akron Education Association has filed its third unfair labor practice charge against the Akron Public Schools administration in the span of a year.
The most recent charge alleges Superintendent Michael Robinson's administration has been dealing directly with members on items that should go through union representation, and has been supplanting union jobs with non-union workers.
"This is not an action the AEA takes lightly," AEA President Pat Shipe said in a release. "However, the administration's blatant disregard for both the Agreement and state law, coupled with the Board's unwavering support of a superintendent who readily and openly violates these protections, has left us with no choice but to pursue legal remedies. The integrity of our collective bargaining process, and the livelihoods of our educators, are at stake."
The charge was filed Thursday with the State Employment Relations Board in Columbus. It will likely take months or more to adjudicate, with steps that can include mediation, hearings and appeals.
Messages were sent to APS administration and board leadership for comment.
AEA said the legal filing comes "after an ongoing and aggressive patter of anti-union behavior by APS leadership, which seeks to undermine the rights and protections guaranteed to AEA members under the collective bargaining agreement and Ohio law."
"The AEA believes that Superintendent Robinson and his administration have engaged in a concerning and deliberate effort to replace union jobs with non-union employees, destabilizing the workforce that has long served Akron's children," the release said. "Additionally, the administration has systematically bypassed the Akron Education Association, engaging in direct dealings with union members in an attempt to rewrite or eliminate rights guaranteed by the Agreement and the Ohio Revised Code.
"These actions represent a clear violation of the law and disregard the exclusive, certified status of the AEA as the representative of its members."
The union had pledged last week to file such a charge in the wake of the administration sending out a press release that contained a quote from Robinson that read, "No one should be going to their union rep if they are concerned about classroom procedures." About eight hours later, after the union threatened to file the ULP charge, the administration released a statement with a new quote from Robinson using different language, saying the previous one was an "incorrect quote."
The following day in an interview, Robinson said he never said the words in the initial quote, and that he was "very pro-union."
Still, the union pledged to file the charge, saying it was a disingenuous retraction and one of several instances that amounted to union-busting.
The AEA's charge also includes the administration's removal of teachers who were working in the main office under contracts and AEA protections from their jobs, forcing them either back into the classroom or to return to work in central office in non-union jobs that AEA says in many cases were the same jobs under different codes and titles.
AEA had previously spoken out about that practice, but Thursday's filing was the first public legal action that referenced it.
The union has filed two other unfair labor practice charges — one in January and one in July. The January filing alleged the administration violated procedures in the contract for outsourcing by hiring a third-party firm, Varsity Tutors, to work with students. The AEA contract covers tutors in the district, and the union's position was that by contracting with an outside vendor, the district was outsourcing jobs that should go to Akron teachers. The board withdrew the contract with the company, but the union continued with the charge to "seek transparency, honesty, and accountability."
The second filing was in July over the administration allegedly failing to process grievances in a timely manner.
This story will be updated.
Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron teachers union files 3rd unfair labor practice charge in year against administration
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