Great River staff union reaches first contract with St. Paul charter

September 26, 2023 by

Two years after voting to form a union with Education Minnesota, the teachers, support staff and other frontline workers of Great River School in St. Paul entered the 2023-24 school year with a first union contract in place.

Representatives of the Great River School Union and the charter school district drafted the agreement in bargaining over the course of about 18 months.

GRSU spokesperson Abby Mesnik, a high school math teacher, said the contract delivers on many objectives Great River employees had in mind when they sought a union election in May 2021, including pay transparency and greater stability in their benefits and work rules.

“People wanted some things in writing,” Mesnik said, noting that Great River was on the cusp of a leadership change during the union drive. “It wasn’t that they were necessarily unhappy with the current practices, but they wanted it preserved, and they wanted some consistency in what working in the school looked like. And I think the contract does that.”

Mesnik credited school administrators for taking a collaborative approach to negotiations. The district even brought in its own pro-union consultant to better understand the process and its staff members’ perspectives.

“We brought a draft of the contract that was very pro-union, and we just negotiated from that draft,” Mesnik said. “They never brought us their own version that we would try to reach a middle on; we would just make edits to ours.”

The contract covers about 120 employees at the Montessori charter school, which serves students in grades 1 through 12. GRSU is a “wall-to-wall” union, meaning teachers are in the same bargaining unit as support staff and even student workers, potentially.

That created a bargaining dynamic that’s unique in public education.

“We could not be separated in bargaining for funds,” Mesnik said. “We’re not just trying to move teachers up or just trying to move support staff up. We all rise together.”

The new contract puts every position covered by the unit into one of three pay scales, ensuring greater transparency and equity, Mesnik added.

“Now we can clearly track down what step and what lane people are on, what salary scale goes with which position,” she said. “Previously, there were not clear raises for folks. Some people were getting 5%, some were getting 2%, some knew to go talk to their boss and ask for a certain amount. Now there’s clarity.”

Other highlights of the contract include new incentives for advanced training in some positions, language around paid-time-off rollover, and a new independent retirement savings benefit, with an employer match after one year.

The contract also spells out for the first time what constitutes a working day and how many working days there are in Great River’s school year.

GRSU is one of five charter school unions in Minnesota. Teachers at the Twin Cities German Immersion School in St. Paul formed the state’s first charter school union in 2014.

Charter schools are publicly funded but exempt from some state laws in order to increase flexibility, autonomy and innovation. Minnesota is considered the birthplace of charter schools, having passed a first-in-the-nation law establishing their framework in 1991. Now, 180 charter schools serve about 76,000 pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students statewide.

Mesnik said she and other GRSU activists often get asked by fellow union educators what it’s like to bargain a contract from scratch.

“I tell them it takes a lot of effort from a lot of people,” she said. “But it’s really exciting to join the labor movement and take power back as workers. We have a lot of power collectively, and it’s really cool to be on the other side with a contract and be able to say that these things are enforceable.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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After tumultuous month, staff at St. Paul charter school near first contract

June 23, 2016 by
Backed by members of her union, CSE kindergarten teacher Meaghan McMillen addressed school board members after being informed her position would not be renewed.

Backed by members of her union, CSE kindergarten teacher Meaghan McMillen addressed school board members after being informed her position would not be renewed.

 

Earlier this month, teachers at Community School of Excellence in St. Paul pushed back against administrators’ plan to cut classroom programming and lay off personnel, including most members of the fledgling staff union’s bargaining team.

Now, not only have several programs been taken off the chopping block, but members of the Federation of Charter School Employees will vote soon on a tentative agreement for a first contract.

“Things, as of now, certainly seem to be moving in the right direction,” said union spokesperson Aaron Porzelius, a kindergarten teacher at CSE.

That’s a dramatic improvement from where things stood June 8, when 50 teachers and aides at CSE were notified they would not return next school year. Among them were four members of the union’s five-person negotiating team.

With support from Education Minnesota, the statewide educators’ union, CSE teachers and staff mobilized quickly to put pressure on administrators to reverse the cuts, which included elimination of the curriculum for English-language learners – a puzzling move, considering CSE’s focus on serving the Hmong community.

“The educators of CSE have been working for years to build a school that serves the special needs of its community,” local union president Blythe Inners said. “More than three quarters of our students are English language learners, and we’re proud of their progress.”

CSE staff and supporters packed the school's June 9 board meeting.

CSE staff and supporters packed the school’s June 9 board meeting.

Staff packed the CSE school board’s meeting June 9, imploring board members to consider the impact proposed cuts – combined with increased staff turnover – would have on students.

“With 50 CSE staff members losing jobs, is that the kind of change needed for our students?” Porzelius said at the board meeting. Rather than replace existing staff with inexperienced newcomers, he urged board members to “continue to invest in these teachers and you will see those test scores rise.”

Within three weeks, CSE administrators had reinstated the ELL program and several staffing positions, including one classroom teacher who was let go. Further teacher reinstatements, Porzelius said, were potentially in the works.

Meanwhile, the staff union’s negotiating team reached a tentative agreement with CSE on a first contract June 19, after negotiations extended into the early-morning hours. Union members will take a ratification vote before July 5.

It’s a big accomplishment for members of the CSE staff union. About 100 employees voted two years ago to join the Federation of Charter School Employees, an affiliate of Education Minnesota, but school administrators dragged out negotiations and refused to respect employees’ decision to unionize.

web.CSE-groupThe school drew a stiff rebuke from the National Labor Relations Board last year for retaliating against union supporters with disciplinary actions, and in January the NLRB’s regional director dismissed an attempt by CSE to decertify the union, citing a “tainted” atmosphere.

Administrators finally got serious about negotiations after the school lost its authorizing organization, Concordia University. All Minnesota charter schools must have the backing of a legal authorizer, and CSE has until July 1 to find a new one or it must close.

Fortunately for CSE teachers and staff, the school’s best hope for opening at all next year is the Minnesota Guild, a charter-authorizing organization sponsored by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. The Guild’s governing board includes current and former local union presidents, who probably do not look kindly on layoffs targeting union activists.

“The school is still trying to work things out with the Guild,” Porzelius said. “But having this labor contract and reinstating staff will help.”

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Staff cuts at embattled St. Paul charter school target union leaders

June 8, 2016 by
Community School of Excellence is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture in St. Paul's North End.

Community School of Excellence is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture in St. Paul’s North End.

A St. Paul charter school’s campaign to deny employees a voice on the job reached a new low yesterday, when administrators announced a wave of staff cuts eliminating several key areas of classroom programming and decimating the union’s bargaining team.

The number of teachers and support staff let go remains in flux, union leaders said this morning, but at least 22 teachers and all 30 aides at the Community School of Excellence have been told they will not return next school year. Among them are four members of the union’s five-person negotiating team.

“We had finally been making some progress at the negotiating table, with a number of (issues) tentatively agreed upon,” said Blythe Inners, president of the bargaining unit, whose job teaching English language learners was among the cuts. “But this move by the administration certainly appears aimed at slowing that down.”

Inners said teachers and staff members are holding out hope that administrators will reverse the cuts and do what’s necessary to save the school they helped to establish. Staff and supporters plan a show of solidarity at tonight’s school board meeting, scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. at 170 Rose Ave. W. 

“The educators of CSE have been working for years to build a school that serves the special needs of its community,” Inners said. “More than three quarters of our students are English language learners and we’re proud of their progress. We’re willing to keep fighting to provide the education our students need to thrive.”

CSE, located in the North End, delivers a curriculum focused on Hmong language and culture. About 100 teachers and other staff members voted two years ago to join the Federation of Charter School Employees, an affiliate of Education Minnesota.

Since then, school administrators have dragged out negotiations of a first contract and refused to respect employees’ decision to unionize.

The school drew a stiff rebuke from the National Labor Relations Board last year for retaliating against union supporters with disciplinary actions, and in January the NLRB’s regional director dismissed an attempt by CSE to decertify the union, citing a “tainted” atmosphere.

The current wave of layoffs, Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said, is an indication that CSE hasn’t changed its ways.

“We’re shocked a school would decimate its curriculum to punish its employees for exercising their right to bargain collectively,” Specht said. “It’s appalling that a school for an immigrant community would deny its students access to dedicated teachers of English language learners, gifted and talented programs, educational support staff and media specialists.”

CSE’s troubles prompted its original authorizing organization, Concordia University, to drop the school. All Minnesota charter schools must have the backing of a legal authorizer, and if CSE does not find a new one by July 1, it will be forced to close.

Ironically, CSE’s best hope for opening at all next year may be with the Minnesota Guild, a charter-authorizing organization sponsored by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. The Guild’s governing board includes current and former local union presidents, who are unlikely to look kindly on layoffs targeting union activists.

“We urge the administrators of the Community School of Excellence to reconsider these foolish and vindictive staff cuts and save their school,” Specht said. “The more than 86,000 members of Education Minnesota are standing behind the educators of CSE today. We will help them save their school, which they helped build with dedication and caring. But if the school cannot be saved from the destructive decisions of its current leaders, we will be there to assist our colleagues in the next stages of their careers.”

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In victory for staff, charter acknowledges workers’ union rights – in three languages

October 6, 2015 by
Community School of Excellence is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture in St. Paul's North End.

Community School of Excellence is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture in St. Paul’s North End.

Staff at Community School of Excellence in St. Paul, still fighting for a first contract more than a year after organizing their union, have compelled Superintendent Mo Chang to acknowledge her administration infringed on workers’ legally protected rights on the job.

The admission comes in a notice to all employees, signed by Chang, affirming CSE employees’ legally protected rights to union representation and to engage in collective action for better wages and working conditions.

Posted Friday in English, Hmong and Karenni, the notice (view PDF) reiterates for staff members of all cultural backgrounds “that the federal government and the National Labor Relations Act are advocating for them,” CSE teacher Eric Johnson said.

CSE, located in St. Paul’s North End neighborhood, is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture. About 100 teachers and other staff members voted in June 2014 to join the Federation of Charter School Employees, an affiliate of Education Minnesota.

“I don’t know many other situations where you’ve got notices like this to employees in these specific Southeast Asian languages,” Johnson added. “It’s a step forward in educating a variety of immigrant groups about how unionization can help them.”

CSE agreed to post the notice as part of a settlement agreement stemming from charges of unfair labor practices filed by CSE employees last winter. The Minneapolis regional office of the National Labor Relations Board approved the settlement last month.

The notice references interactions between workers and management last school year, after employees voted to unionize, and it provides a glimpse into the backlash workers faced for publicly supporting the organizing drive. For example:

“We will not threaten employees that their comments are appalling because they exercise their right to discuss or protest working conditions with employees, or because they publicize labor disputes at meetings with third parties.”

As part of the settlement, CSE agreed to “engage in further training” on workers’ rights under federal law, provided by the Minneapolis branch of the NLRB. And the district rescinded disciplinary actions against four pro-union employees, including Johnson, who is now president of the Federation of Charter School Employees.

“Because a lot of the events coincided with unionization, including reprimands of union leadership, we felt these things were all just too coincidental and seemed to be retaliatory,” Johnson said. “But as a union these issues now have been resolved, and we look forward to negotiating a first contract with the school.”

The two sides have held six negotiating sessions, and they plan to meet regularly until reaching a tentative agreement, according to Johnson.

CSE is one of two unionized charter schools in St. Paul. Teachers at the Twin Cities German Immersion School, who voted for union representation in January 2014, approved a first contract earlier this school year.

When union members at CSE have a tentative agreement of their own to vote on, Johnson said, “we’ll continue to legitimize charter school unions in Minnesota.”

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