Catholic school teachers picket before start of classes

From the Williamsport Sun Gazette, March 29, 2008

They carried umbrellas and signs that read ‘‘Give us our union back’’ and ‘‘What would Jesus do?’’ as about 20 people participated in an informational picket before the start of classes Friday in front of St. John Neumann Regional Academy high school campus.

From 7:15 to 7:45 a.m., teachers from various grade levels, along with representatives from local unions, took to the picket lines to express their displeasure with the Diocese of Scranton’s and Bishop Joseph Martino’s refusal to recognize the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers.

In January, the diocese announced it would not recognize the union, and instead it has implemented an employee relations program, which some Neumann employees have opted to participate in.

For some teachers, the employee council is not an option, and this was their second trip to the picket line since the announcement in protest of the Diocese’s stance.

‘‘Most of the people in this area don’t realize that we had a union in the Scranton Diocese for 30 years ... We only want what we’ve had for 30 years,’’ Wendy Trenholm, math department chairperson at the high school, said. ‘‘Never has it been about money. Never. In the 30-page contract, two pages are dedicated to salary and benefits. Everything else is about equal rights for employees and just basic human rights about planning periods and preparations and just all the little things that go with teaching.

’’Dan Gallagher, manager of community affairs with the diocese, said the diocese ‘‘isn’t taking issue with any of the informational pickets or prayer vigils.’’

‘‘Where they do have a problem is when teachers are conducting a work stoppage,’’ Gallagher said, noting Thursday’s ‘‘sick out’’ at St. Nicholas/St. Mary Interparochial School in Wilkes-Barre, and other recent ‘‘sick outs’’ that have forced school closures in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre-area schools. The dispute has not caused classes to be canceled at St. John Neumann to date.

‘‘Bishop Martino has said throughout this ... his decision is final and he does not intend to go back on that.

’’Trenholm said some of the Bishop’s statements regarding health care benefits and salary apply to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre teachers, but not to Neumann teachers, she said, referring to a full-page paid advertisement the diocese ran in the Sun-Gazette for four days in February.

‘‘The things that the Bishop has been publishing in our newspaper here is not the benefits package that we’re receiving here in Williamsport,’’ Trenholm said. ‘‘(Teachers in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre areas) have a much better salary scale up there and they have much better benefits than we do, frankly.’’

Gallagher said salaries are based upon ‘‘number of years, degrees and/or credits.’’‘‘The salary scales in the past were set at each individual school, therefore, there are some teachers in the Holy Cross (Scranton area) and Holy Redeemer (Luzerne County) system earning more, less or the same as the teachers in the St. John Neumann System,’’ Gallagher said. ‘‘We have hired Parente Randolph Human Resource division to work with the employee relation councils to assist in this matter. It must be noted that each system has a different financial base which will always be determined by number of students (tuition), parish subsidies (all parishes in the diocese contribute), and fundraising so the budget will be established in each of the four systems.

‘‘Some matters will be determined by the diocese but many financial issues will be within the systems since they are dependent on enrollment and fundraising,’’ Gallagher said.

Being a smaller school, Trenholm said, also requires teachers and staff to multi-task which, she said, they understand and will comply with, as long as their rights aren’t infringed upon.

‘‘We are totally willingly do extra duties on the side with no compensation at all,’’ Trenholm said. ‘‘But when it comes to trying to give us a duty lunch, like cafeteria monitoring while we’re supposed to be eating ... those are the things (we’re against).

’’Liz Gerritzen, who works part-time as a Spanish teacher at all Neumann campuses, said she picketed for her right to representation because part-time employees cannot participate on the diocese’s employee council.

Gerritzen said Martino also has promised all teachers free tuition for their children. Gerritzen said she has a student at the high school and has not received ‘‘any type of tuition assistance or any type of reduction.’’

‘‘I know that the bishop’s letter keeps saying that all teachers in the system get free tuition. All teachers in the system, no. That’s only full-time workers,’’ Gerritzen said.

When asked if part-time employees can participate on the council and if they are entitled to free tuition, Gallagher said it’s ‘‘very difficult to make a blanket statement,’’ because part-time employees must meet certain criteria to be eligible for benefits.‘

‘Part-time could be nine-month teacher aide positions or they could be 10 hour a week cafeteria positions,’’ Gallagher said. ‘‘Issues differ based upon the position.’’

Dean Reynolds, president of the Northern Tier Central Labor Council that represents all the AFL-CIO-affiliated unions in Clinton, Lycoming, Tioga and Bradford counties, said about a dozen of the council’s members wanted to show the SDACT their support by joining them on the picket line.

‘‘We’re out here supporting our sisters and brothers here at St. John Neumann,’’ Reynolds said. ‘‘It’s just amazing to us that the Catholic Church has always been such a supporter of organized labor, and this just doesn’t make sense to us, and this is really what we’re all about. We’re just here to do anything we can to help them get recognized with their union.’’

Ron Bower, with the bricklayers union, said Martino ‘‘lacks the people skills to be in the position that he is in’’ in his refusal to negotiate with the teachers.

‘‘He needs to be removed and put in a position where he doesn’t have to deal with people,’’ Bower said. Classes at all St. John Neumann campuses were not disrupted by the picket, according to Kathy Bahr, the academy’s development director.

‘‘Teachers who picketed were in their classrooms well before classes began, and the day is proceeding normally,’’ Bahr said.

Teachers said the union will continue to appeal Martino’s decision, which could take the battle as far as the Vatican. Gallagher said the diocese ‘‘will engage in the appropriate process that is required’’ as the dispute progresses.

The picketers also encouraged families to get involved.

‘‘In the Scranton Diocese, especially in the Wilkes-Barre area, the parents there are so vocally supportive, and we just really don’t know how a lot of our parents here stand,’’ Trenholm said. ‘‘We feel uncomfortable talking about it because we just don’t know their stance.

’’Picketing also took place at Holy Redeemer in Wilkes-Barre and Holy Cross in Scranton, according to Michael Milz, president of the SDACT. Milz said about 100 people turned out at Holy Redeemer, but he had not received a total count for Holy Cross.