Diocesan teachers plan to mark anniversary of bishop’s decision

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice, January 23, 2009. Similar stories appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune and the Hazleton Standard Speaker:

Diocesan teachers plan to mark anniversary of bishop’s decision

Rallies, sickouts and national attention have done nothing to sway Bishop Joseph F. Martino.

It has been one year since the Diocese of Scranton announced it would not recognize its teachers union as a collective bargaining unit. Diocesan teachers remain without official union representation, but even after a year of rejection, vow to change that.

“I never thought things would take on the dynamics that they did,” Michael Milz, union president, said. “We were hoping that just the fact so many people opposed what the bishop did, he would change his decision … obviously, that never happened.”

Teachers and their supporters will mark Saturday’s anniversary by holding a rally outside St. Peter’s Cathedral on Wyoming Avenue at noon. Milz said he expects turnout from local labor groups, teachers and parents, but expects cold weather to keep some people away.

Instead of recognizing the union, the diocese has created an employee relations program. According to a statement issued by the diocese Thursday, 26 of 28 diocesan schools are participating and issues addressed include wages, benefits, leave, pension and tuition reimbursement. A teacher contract is close to being finalized, according to the diocese.

The teachers union had previously been recognized within the diocese on a school-by-school basis, but after the diocese reorganized its school system, the diocese as a whole had to grant recognition.

Teachers have said that without a union, they have no job security and are at the “will” of their employer. The diocese has stated that the union has had a detrimental effect on Catholic education.

The past year has been full of changes for Milz, who remains as union president although he no longer is a history teacher at Holy Redeemer High School.The 34-year employee of the diocese claims he was unjustly terminated in June, while the diocese has maintained he was laid off. He is now a field representative with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

Much of Milz’s time recently has been spent working to garner support for legislation to amend the state’s labor relations law to include employees of religiously affiliated schools. The bill was introduced late in the last session of the legislature and the session expired before action could be taken. The bill will be reintroduced at Saturday’s rally, and the diocese opposes it because it “will compromise the religious character of Catholic schools in direct violation of the constitutional separation between church and state,” according to the statement.

The issue in Scranton has many Catholic teachers in the state wondering if the same thing could happen to their unions, said Rita C. Schwartz, president of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers,“It certainly has made us very sad that our church and that a bishop of our church has so devastated the social justice teaching,” she said. “We want to try to fix up what happened in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and make sure it doesn’t happen to any other teacher.”