Norwalk Administrator’s Union Firing Back

There’s a rumor that a letters signed by 29 administrators of the third floor is making its way to the BOE. Apparently these paper cut warriors are upset that Tony Ditrio singled out the administration as being unsupportive and unresponsive of teachers and the public.

My oh my, we have here a dilemma, rank and file union members gearing up against union leaders. All the makings of the classic he said/she said verbal brawl that will occupy time and energy better spent on solving the number one problem identified by 4 out of 5 dentists, er, reports, er, everybody. C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. Why?

Aretha, sing it:

Now, it would seem that the administrators of the third floor are missing the whole bit about why there’s some criticism leveled against their performance. Well, I could write on and on about what all the little issues are. But hey, when Aretha is on, she’s on. So sing it again Aretha, tell us what you think…

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  • Braemar

    It sounds as if the author believes that all of these people are in the same union. Not so.
    Administrators or evaluators are not allowed in the same union with those they evaluate. Union leaders are peers, not administrators. The administrators (below supt.) have their own union.

    So rank and file should respect their leaders? If warranted, yes. It’s a two-way street.

    • turfgrrl

      Braemer: Sorry for the lack of clarity, but yes I understand there are different unions representing different groups of people. For the record, it is members of the administrators union who are signatories to the letter against the letter that the group of union leaders singed off on complaining about the lack of support from central office leaders who may or may not be in the administrators union.

  • Jim C

    Unions are the destruction of America. I know the response from those that preach on here. But the facts are the facts. Who else to defend the drunk drivers, the druggies, those that threaten co-workers that they work with? Those that are not qualified for a position? Those that have work place performance issues? Who else? Can’t fire them cause of the unions. Let’s here it for the Unions!

  • OLD TIMER

    “CAN”T FIRE THEM CAUSE OF THE UNIONS”
    That is the lamest excuse in the world for failure to manage.
    Not many people need to be fired, but it happens. It is never a pleasant task. That is one reason management gets paid more. Somebody needs to make a decision and take responsibility for it. People get fired all the time, except where some boss hides behind this lame excuse for not doing what he is getting paid for.
    Anyone who knows the history, knows we all benefit from the union movement, even those who wouldn’t think of joining a union. I know, there are people who believe working before there were unions was idyllic, but they were not there, never saw the terrible working conditions, the small children working difficult jobs. Believe it or not, not all employers are fair and honest with their help.

  • Braemar

    Administrators/managers who follow the evaluation plans and contracts can make all the changes they need to make a department, school or business run well. Those who point to unions are making an excuse for their ineptitude.

    • Jim C

      Uh, aren’t the admins/managers in a union too? The same unions that defend the ineptitude that you speak of, allow for unchecked leadership because they are afraid to terminate an employee for fear that the Union will come down on them. Like school yard bullies they wield their power.

      OT: Once upon a time in America unions had their place. ONCE UPON A TIME. Old times. It is no longer required. They are corrupt. They are poorly run. They are a way to pigeon hole taxpayers into mandatory mularkey! That is across the board. As far as work place safety what exactly does OSHA do? We have a media frenzy that analyzes everything today. Everything from UAW workers to balloon boy. Though there is one thing that I can’t argue with you on: I would never join a union.

  • http://YourCT.com Just Me

    Um, Ditrio is President of NASA, which IS the Administrators’ Union. The issue of whether or not they’re all/some a waste of taxpayers’ money is one thing, but as their leader, he probably shouldn’t have been the one to accuse them, even if it was in the capacity of a joint statement from all the unions.

  • NorwalkParents

    The two Directors of Elementary Ed took the letter attacking Ditrio to all the schools during work hours and “asked” the principals they evaluate to sign it. Wow- that’s a great way for business to be conducted. I’m sure that no one felt the least bit intimidated having her boss say “sign this”. Then, it was sent to the board of ed members from Libertore during work hours using her Norwalk Public Schools email address.
    But, please Board of Ed– don’t look into this issue, and none of you better talk about how wasteful and inefficient this use of employee time was– after all, I know you have better things to do trying to impose a gag order on the people who don’t agree with your busines-as-usual way of maintaining the status quo.

  • Secondhand Rose

    The thing you have to understand about unions, particularly the ones in Norwalk, is that they will fight to the death to keep a full time employee on the union rolls. Why? Because part time employees do not pay union dues!! This is why the unions fight de-funding of full time positions and why they do their utmost to prevent lackluster employees from being let go. It’s all about the almighty dollar.

  • OLD TIMER

    JIM C
    It is so good to hear that employers have all seen the light and are now committed to fair and honest treatment of all employees, making unions totally unnecessary, a useless vestige of a bygone era. Nobody will ever exploit entry level workers again. Halleluah, I never expected to see this day. Thank you for bringing the good news.

  • Jim C

    OT: I suspect that if you went and polled the younger portion of our workforce they would not share the views and values you place in the Union. Also, if your union promises you a yearly increase… no matter what…. why should anyone strive for being better? I mean, your getting an increase to do the same thing as the previous year guaranteed. Where is the motivation?

  • Secondhand Rose

    JimC – I imagine that you would be correct. However, it’s been my experience that the “younger portion of our workforce” is also the group with the least amount of work ethic and more sense of entitlement – translated into doing as little work as possible for the most recognition through the work of others as possible.

    • just asking…

      In general, people want to do a good job – young or old. Give them opportunity, recognition, and value their contribution and you will get good work — union or no union. How do businessess keep the union out? By treating people well. When do unions come in? When employees are treated as less importnat than the process, the technology or the equipment. It’s no mystery. It’s rarely about money and wage increases (although that is one measure of how you’re valued.)

      • turfgrrl

        just asking: I totally agree that people want to do a good job. In fact, I blame almost entirely management for productivity stifling rules and practices that defeat any modicum of creative productivity. However, unions are just as responsible for the problem as they focus almost entirely on defending the worker instead of championing the best workers. By this I mean that the focus on both is on the lowest common denominator issues rather than the rest.

        Let’s put that in context, in fact specifically tied to a Norwalk issue. The hours of the yard waste dump. The union contract specifies that the workers work 40 hours and that those hours can’t be time shifted. Why impose those limitations. Sure there are some workers who really don’t want to work Tuesday through Saturdays every week of their life. But why not allow those that do want to shift their work schedule to do so? Beyond that, why not establish that the working horus are in fact set by user demand, and not by the convenience of the workers and management? In the tech world, there’s plenty of innovative ways to handle time shift schedules that no one really wants, without increasing labor costs. One is the use of comp time. Put in 100 hours in one week right during Christmas break and you earn double comp time, or fridays off all summer, or three day work weeks.

        The problem is with both sides of the labor/management issue, and neither should be spared criticism.

        • Secondhand Rose

          The unions do it because they don’t want to lose the union dues that they get from full time employees. They won’t “job share” because that would mean taking one full time job (and monthly union dues) and replacing it with two part time jobs (and no union dues). That’s why the union makes such a big stink when the City wants to de-fund full time positions also. They don’t care about the loss of the person, they’re concerned with the loss of the union dues that person was paying into the system.

  • OLD TIMER

    JIM C
    Polled the workers ? That is how they got unions in the first place. Anytime a simple majority of any union local votes to get rid of the union, it happens. Please don’t make it sound like any Union has a permanent stranglehold on any group of employees. No union can possibly promise raises every year. Where did you get that idea. They can promise to ask, but there are no promises or guarantees. It is logical that they are more likely to get what they ask for, within reason, when they are representing a large group. The only promise a union makes is due process and equal treatment for all members.
    TG
    Contracts are not forever. Anytime the City wants more scheduling flexibility in the DPW contract, it needs to ask, and be prepared to give something in return. There are other city contracts that have more scheduling flexibilty and the city pays for it. There is no free lunch, and you don’t really believe there should be.

    • Braemar

      Whenever the management and the union negotiate the next contract there are wants on each side.
      Some are monetary, some are language and/or protection changes. They use negotiation to come to a common ground.
      If Norwalk wants changes it can negotiate same.
      All changes cost somewhere.

  • OLD TIMER

    NY POST has several stories about a teacher named Alan Rosenfield who has been assigned to school system “rubber room” since 2001, collects $100, 000 salary, and runs his own private law practice on City time. He was charged with numerous counts of lewd comments to junior high school girls, but never convicted of a crime. School superintendent won’t let him teach and claims they can’t fire him because of the union. He is eligible for retirement but chooses to stay and get paid for not teaching.
    Real problem is they know he is a creep, but can’t prove it, and are afraid to put him back into a classroom. Without being able to prove he is unfit, they can’t make a case to fire him. Union has no choice but to protect his right to due process. If they had law enforcement, rather than teachers, handle the original complaint, he would probably have been fired and gone to jail years ago. Apparently he is not the only one in similar circumstances, assigned to the “rubber room” indefinitely.