EARLY LEARNING MEMBERS GET BARGAINING RIGHTS RESTORED

Department of Early Learning members got their contract rights restored Wednesday (May 14) when the Federation won certification as the union for the approximately 148 non-supervisors and 17 supervisors.

The Early Learning workers’ contract rights were supposed to follow them when the new agency in 2006 when the new agency was carved out of the Department of Social and Health Services and Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

But through a drawn-out battle over interpretation of what the Legislature had intended, the Early Learning workers had their contract rights essentially taken away.

Instead of dragging the tussle out even further, the Early Learning workers with the help of Federation activists and staff started from scratch and collected signed authorization cards.

And the Public Employment Relations Commission on Tuesday determined that the union had met the “cross-check tally” requirement with more than 70 percent of the non-supervisors and supervisors signing authorization cards. With that, PERC certified the Federation as the exclusive bargaining representative in the Department of Early Learning.

The certification had an immediate impact at the General Government bargaining table. Early Learning representative Marsha Ballentine (Local 53) took her seat as a full-fledged member of the bargaining team. An Early Learning representative will join the management bargaining team as well. Both sides committed to making the necessary updates to the contract to reflect the new Early Learning bargaining units.