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| March 19, 2009 - Press Release |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: William Felkner
P.O. Box 2401
Providence, RI 02906
Tel: 401-228-6691
E-mail: info@oceanstatepolicy.org
UNION MAKES SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S CASE BEFORE SLRB
The Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board (SLRB) began the hearing today on the dispute between the East Providence School Committee (EPSC) and the East Providence Education Association (Union). On the advice of SLRB legal council, Margaret L. Hogan, Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) 5946 and ULP 5951 were consolidated into one hearing.
It is important to remember that charges filed by the EPSC regarding the same circumstances (ULP 5933 and ULP 5934) were administratively dismissed by the Board.
In one of the charges discussed at today's hearing, ULP 5946, the Union accuses the School Committee of unfair labor practice for refusing to establish ground rules for negotiation. But the evidence is that the school committee offered compromise grounds rules or to negotiate with no ground rules at all. But the Union refused to change its demands. How this amounts to the School Committee committing unfair labor practice remains unclear even following the Union's opening statement.
Indeed, although the claims against the Union for refusal to bargain were dismissed, it appeared that the Union's attorney thought the Union's conduct might be suspect and so took pains to make clear that the board had previously ruled that it is not an unfair labor practice to refuse to negotiate in public.
"It appears that, in defending its own actions, the Union has made the School Committee's case. If it is not an unfair labor practice to refuse to negotiate in public, it cannot be an unfair labor practice to refuse to negotiate in secret," said William Felkner, president of the Ocean State Policy Research Institute that runs the LRBwatch.org site.
Regarding the second charge by the Union, that in cutting pay and implementing healthcare co-pays after the expiration of the contract was an unfair labor practice, Attorney Dan Kinder representing the EPSC said that the Committee is bound by law not to deficit spend, and the city may not by law exceed it's tax cap, and, in any event, this issue isn't under the jurisdiction of the SLRB.
The Union's attorney argued historic practice, i.e., that the EPSC has deficit spent for a decade and it would be unfair to the public employees not to continue.
"This fiscal irresponsibility cannot be condoned by the SLRB," said Felkner. "The fact that previous school boards disregarded the law cannot be considered a precedent for the present school committee to do the same. How many people can avoid a speeding ticket by saying to the policeman: I always speed down this street?"
But more fundamentally, the Union's argument ignores a charter rule of the American political system. An earlier legislature cannot bind a later legislature. If one assumes that the earlier deficit spending were not wholly illegitimate but was a resolution of conflicting statutory responsibilities of the school committee, a later school committee is entitled to adopt a different resolution of those competing mandates. So the SLRB is without the power to force a later school committee to the same political outcome. And if the contention is that the school committee misreads or misapplies the laws, the prohibition on deficit spending falls outside the jurisdiction of the SLRB and the School Committees' conformance would be a matter in which the Superior Court has original jurisdiction.
The next hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2009. As the Union attorney said, this case may be the single most important case before the Board, perhaps in Rhode Island history.
"The magnitude of this case is immense," Felkner emphasized. "I hope the Board members don't confuse their Kindergarten lessons. When considering whether or not EP should continue to deficit spend just because they did it in the past, please remember that two wrongs don't make a right. And when it comes to the decision whether or not the Union can refuse to negotiate in public but the Committee can't refuse to negotiate in secrete, please don't assume one wrong makes the other one right."
About OSPRI:
Created in 2007, our work is focused on crafting sound public policy based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, and traditional American values. We offer timely research and analysis on important issues to be shared with elected officials, the media, business leaders, community organizations and individual citizens. In recent months, we have been responsible for such successful projects as the Transparency Train - A public financial and legislative information repository, as well as regular updates published and available on our website and companion blog.
About The Transparency Train:
The Transparency Train Web Portal (www.transparencytrain.org) provides access to a variety of websites designed to present public information in a Google-style searchable format. These sites include:
RI Data which contains every budget, payroll, public employee contract and monthly check register for all cities, towns and school districts in Rhode Island.
RI Votes which is an online database of legislation and voting records.
LRB Watch provides analysis and information on the State Labor Relations Board.
RI Schools is an interactive website that allows viewers to create comparative graphs of school districts plotting various metrics such as cost per student, test scores and the number of employees (coming Spring 2009).
RI Donors will contain a "connect the dots" approach to viewing political and lobbying finances (coming Fall 2009).
Take Action, a "how-to" manual that shows citizens how to file Freedom Of Information Act requests for public information and what to do if they don't comply.
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If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call Parker Lacoste at 401/228-6691 or e-mail info@oceanstatepolicy.org.
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