Posted on 06/05/2002 11:48:26 PM PDT by mr1776
AMPLIFICATION: Comments from a union president were trimmed from a story on Page B3 of Thursday's Metro section. The story concerned union custodians who filed a grievance with the Brooklyn School District over landscaping work that was done by students and volunteers in memory of a second-grader Matthew Barrick. Matthew died Feb. 14 of a brain aneurysm. The union says the work circumvented its contract. The custodians say they should be paid.
Union President Pat Kirlough said grievances are not usually discussed in public and that she is "very disappointed" no one stopped discussion of the issue at a school board meeting Tuesday night. She said the union contract provides for assistance from community members.
"I don't have a problem with volunteers helping but not when they do bargaining-unit work," Kirlough said. "[Matthew] was a student at Roadoan [Elementary School] and not at the board offices or the high school and yet all those were landscaped. They are just using the students as an excuse." END.
Brooklyn - A good deed meant to honor a dead second-grader has turned into a fight over whether school employees were cheated out of landscaping work.
Two custodians, whose duties include landscaping, have filed a grievance with the Brooklyn school district claiming they should be paid for landscaping work that a local company donated, even though it had no impact on their work hours.
Mark Hennings and Doug Scott want $37 an hour, the time-and-one-half rate, for the two weekends that volunteers, including high school seniors fulfilling community service requirements, spent sprucing up the grounds of Brooklyn High School and Roadoan Elementary School.
The project honored Matthew Barrick, 8, who died Feb. 14 from a brain aneurysm. Funeral services were private, so Roadoan Principal Margaret Lennard and staff members decided to have a ceremony and plant a tree at the school to honor Matthew.
The idea snowballed. Local landscapers Jim and Tara Beale offered their help, donating $700 worth of materials. Semins' Green House, Home Depot, Nations' Rent and other companies and residents also donated materials, totaling $3,000.
At the ceremony, held two weeks ago, students sang songs and wrote letters to Matthew. They also raised money to help Matthew's mother pay medical bills.
Then, a few days later, the custodians filed their grievance.
Tempers flared at Tuesday's school board meeting when the grievance was discussed.
Gretchen Derethik, the high school principal, choked back tears as she defended the students who earned their community service hours in Matthew's honor.
"The kids are taking pride in their school and our differences are pulling the kids right into the middle of our problems," Derethik said. "Volunteerism is being criticized. This needs to stop. All we do is fight over nothing."
Board members and some audience members stood and applauded.
Hennings angrily insisted that the project violated the union contract. Union members applauded him.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nealznuze@cox.com [mailto:Nealznuze@cox.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 6:39 AM
To: myemail@myisp.net
Subject: RE: Union school custodians complain about volunteer memorial landscaping.
Great stuff.... thanks.
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Neal *hates* unions, so look for this on Nealz Nuze today, and expect some discussion in the show. I shamelessly stole your line about "hammering nails into their own casket" in my email to Neal, so if that appears in his Nuze, you know why.
Curses.
Hennings angrily insisted that the project violated the union contract. Union members applauded him.
I’d imagine they broke a few little kid legs after the meeting, as well, but they was asking for it.
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