MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

 At this week’s Labor Management meeting with the District, your union’s Labor Management Team addressed the concerns that were brought up at our general membership meeting on November 16th.  (1) The adjusting of hours for holidays; (2) Concerns about Covid-19 rules not being followed or enforced; and (3) Plans if schools close again.

The District is understanding the confusion caused by hour adjustments.  The bottom line is that our hours are adjusted to allow for paid holidays and breaks. We will receive our normal pay every week.

The issues concerning Covid-19 were taken very seriously by the District.  Your team explained the hesitation of some staff to report violations to their building Covid-19 supervisor. They emphasized the need for all staff to be vigilant and report all issues, including issues with buses.  They agreed that emails are the best form of communication to notify the building Covid-19 supervisor about issues. If there is no action taken, call Forrest Griek.

The district response to the question about possible school closures was that schools have a different threshold than businesses. The intention of the District is to keep their staff whole for this year.

Many thanks to the Bylaw Committee who have been working for many months on reviewing and updating our Bylaws.  The new Bylaws are posted on this website under "Important Documents."  Thanks also go to the members who attended our November 23rd Zoom meeting to discuss and vote on the Bylaws.  One major note -- we are now the TACOMA FEDERATION OF EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS.  This was a very important change, making us more inclusive to the Bus Monitors, ASL Interpreters, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants, Speech Language Pathology Assistants, Physical Therapy Assistants, Health Room Assistants, LPN's and others represented by our union, along with our paraeducators.  

We had a successful drive-through election this evening.  33 members cast their ballots.  Thank you to those who participated!  Nominees for each executive board position ran unopposed:

Vice President - Kathy Unruh

Secretary - Rhonda Stinson

Editor - Liz Walle

Building Rep Coordinator B - Lisa Wolf

Sgt at Arms - Phoebe Grigsby

A special thank you to our Nominations and Elections Committee: Kari Madden and Melissa Roach.  Also, thank you to our volunteer members who came out to help facilitate the vote and the ballot count:  Melody Hardesty, Amy Kimmel, Betty Lewis, Susan Wright and Elizabeth Douglas.

*MOUs are posted under the Important Documents tab*

*Impact Provisions

*Effects

*ASL Interpreters

*Leaves

Today, your bargaining team reached a tentative agreement on four (4) separate MOUs with the district.  We have solidified language around the effects of the June 1 personnel action, leaves, ASL and provisions going into the 20/21 school year. 

These agreements will be uploaded to the website for viewing within the next 24 hours.  

A huge thank you to the team that sacrificed portions of their summer and has put in endless hours during the negotiation process:

Kathy Unruh

Rhonda Stinson

Kari Madden

Lisa Wolf

Jana Quiocho

Liz Walle

Jazmyn Daniels

Glory Tichy

Know that this could not have been possible without the way our membership sprang into action on multiple occasions when prompted  These past four months have served a bigger purpose as well which is letting the district know we are a valuable part of the educational team and we deserve respect.  This concept is still not acknowledged by all upper admin within TPS but we are moving in the right direction thanks to the actions of our members!!