News

June 10, 2010

Diocese, teacher rep meet

Union head Milz talks with Msgr. Bambera, currently in charge of daily diocese issues.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
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SCRANTON – A new day may have dawned in the battle over local Catholic school teacher unionization, thanks to a meeting between representatives of teachers and the Diocese of Scranton – something that simply did not occur during retired Bishop Joseph Martino’s tenure. But proposed Harrisburg legislation spawned by the battle remains in play, still threatening to radically reshape the debate.

Union president and former teacher Michael Milz said he met recently with Monsignor Joseph Bambera, who was appointed to handle day-to-day operations of the diocese after Martino announced his resignation Aug. 31 and the Vatican made Archdiocese of Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali the local apostolic administrator until a new bishop is named.

“It was very encouraging,” Milz said of his meeting with Bambera. “He’s not part of the old regime, he wasn’t part of the decision-making process” that led to the union dispute, which resulted in informational pickets, public rallies, schools shut down for a day by teacher “sick outs,” and one episode of students walking out of classes to show support for the union.

Milz said he sent a letter requesting a meeting as soon as Rigali announced that Bambera would be his local representative. Bambera responded quickly, and the only reason the meeting didn’t occur sooner was logistics. Nothing specific came out of the meeting, but Milz said that was no surprise. “I knew going in that (Bambera) couldn’t make any decisions, and that he would be a conduit between us and Cardinal Rigali.”

The dispute began after the diocese closed dozens of schools in 2007 and completely restructured the system, replacing local school boards and parish councils with four regional boards. The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic School Teachers had represented some teachers under the old system and asked to represent them under the new setup, but the request was rejected in favor of an “Employee Relations Program” set up by the diocese.

After multiple failed attempts to reverse that decision, the union got support from state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, who introduced a bill in May, 2008 that would give Catholic School Teachers protection under the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act.

Such protection would allow the union to appeal such a rejection to the state Labor Relations Board, which in turn could mandate a secret ballot election for teachers to approve or reject unionization. The diocese would then have to accept the outcome of the vote. The diocese rigorously opposed that move, claiming unions would bankrupt the system and force the closure of more schools.

The bill failed to get out of committee before last year’s legislative session ended, but Pashinski re-introduced it this year. Now known as HB26, it is still in committee, put on the back burner during the months-long budget battle that consumed much of the legislature’s time this summer.

Still, Pashinski said, “HB26 is poised in the labor committee and ready for approval.” He remains confident that there are enough votes in the committee to move it along for a vote by the full House, and has repeatedly predicted it has good chances of approval at that level as well.

But Pashinski, a former teacher, has said all along that his primary goal is to resolve the dispute, and that the legislation was a response to the stalemate.

Asked if a settlement between the union and the new diocesan leadership would prompt him to withdraw the bill, he said he would “take direction from the Catholic school teachers, they precipitated it.”

Milz said he believes HB26 should still be pursued. “Even if the next bishop approves the union, the bishop after that could reverse the decision,” Milz said. He also noted the bill would help the union cause elsewhere. “There are still issues all over the state.”

While a resolution to the local dispute wouldn’t necessarily take the wind from the sails of HB26, Pashinski said he might consider withdrawing it if a more comprehensive alternate solution developed.

He cited an agreement this summer designed to diffuse years of contentious wrangling over unionization at the nation’s Catholic hospitals.

After nearly a decade of discussions spearheaded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and involving The Catholic Health Association of the United States, Catholic Healthcare Partners, and four prominent unions including the AFL-CIO, the parties released a document dubbed “Respecting the Just Rights of Workers.”

The 16-page document is non-binding but carries the weight of the USCCB and the unions that signed on. It offers “guidance and options for Catholic health care and unions,” and among its top precepts is the agreement that workers have the right to “freely and fairly” decide whether to join a union.

The decision should be handled by a secret ballot vote overseen by a neutral third party like the National Labor Relations Board, and both sides should have “equal access” to employees in making their case prior to a vote. The whole process should also occur in a “pressure-free environment.”

There is a big difference between Catholic hospitals and most Catholic elementary and high schools. Such hospitals typically fall outside the purview of the bishop who overseas the diocese in which they are built.

While the bishop typically has the responsibility to determine if the hospital merits the label “Catholic,” he usually is not involved in the operation or finances of the hospital.

Schools, in contrast, usually are ultimately under the bishop’s control, even if a local parish board or council oversees most operations.

Mark Guydish, a Times Leader Staff writer, can be reached at 829-7161

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