Jul. 14—LEWISBURG — The AFSCME union representative at Lewisburg Area School District threatened to file an unfair labor practice action against the district and criticized the school board on Thursday night for allegedly acting in bad faith during contract negotiations.
Adam Maguire, a representative for 29 custodial, maintenance and food service employees, spoke at the public meeting and asked the board to increase the salaries of the workers, many of which make less than $12 an hour, to a living wage. The current three-year union contract expired on June 30.
"You need to pay your employees a living wage," said Maguire in a 12-minute prepared statement. "You need to give them the same longevity increases as other district employees. You need to give them the same health care. Anything short of immediate action on these items is a failure from this district. You cannot deem these employees essential and then reject their requests for equality."
School Board President Erin Jablonski noted the school board members could not talk about contract negotiations in public, but she and other school board members thanked Maguire for his words and expressed their hope that a resolution could be met.
"We look forward to getting to a resolution that I know we'll get to eventually," said Board Vice President Cory Heath. "I was part of the last two negotiations. Those were successfully resolved and eventually, we'll successfully resolve this one."
The first negotiation session occurred on Feb. 10. The district did not have any wage proposal prepared for the union negotiation team, said Maguire.
"The district provided their initial poverty proposal at the March 23, 2023, negotiation session," he said. "This proposal included concessions to the food service workers, janitors, and maintenance employees. This school district proposed to double the employees' health care costs, and give them 25 cents a year increase, and rejected longevity increases that they previously provided to the non-union employees."
Maguire said the district had "no intention of meeting its obligations under Act 88 or bargaining in good faith with its essential employees," and they have been treating employees with disrespect and retaliation. The district has also pushed to eliminate the union, he said.
Maguire said some employees have left the district to find better paying jobs.
"It sickens me that my neighbors, your workers, have to rely on food stamps and public assistance to make ends meet because you refuse to pay them more than starvation wages," said Maguire. "It makes me heartbroken to hear that our workers' children, your students, do not have the meals they need. It breaks my heart to know your workers living down the street must use our food banks and churches for meals."