School crossing guards still on the job (union goes to court)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.projo.com/ri/warwick/content/WB_crossing_guards_02-26-08_J99554D_v9.37257f9.html

WARWICK — From a practical standpoint the city’s transition from unionized crossing guards to nonunion, per diem employees without benefits went off without a hitch yesterday.

Twenty-three guards, clad in fluorescent safety vests, were at their posts. And better yet, they were almost all familiar faces to the students because, city officials said, all 17 unionized guards applied for and received slots in the increased ranks.


The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy
Bill Thomas is among the Warwick crossing guards who opted for per-diem employment after the city stopped recognizing their union in the wake of stalemated contract talks.


And while there were no visible problems yesterday, the legal wrangling over whether the city can actually make the switch to nonunionized guards is only just beginning.

A Superior Court judge is expected to rule on a request for a preliminary injunction filed earlier this month by Local 1033 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, and last week the state Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against the city for its actions.

At the end of the December, Mayor Scott Avedisian announced that — after more than a year of negotiations that culminated in the City Council’s rejection of a tentative agreement — the city would be laying them off and replacing them with per diem employees. He said the new guards would not receive the health insurance, union pension or any other benefits the members of Local 1033 had been receiving for years.

The benefits were a sticking point at the bargaining table and the main reason the council rejected the tentative pact with the crossing guards even though it did not include a pay increase. Council members repeatedly said the city could not afford the benefits and they were not warranted for employees who worked an average of 20 hours per week.

FULL story at link.