[Ohio-talk] looking for advice
via Ohio-talk
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Mon May 26 03:11:58 UTC 2014
Debra,
I am in somewhat of a unique situation....if it isn't crazy enough
already.....in that, I am president of a union that is a "local", in that we do
not belong to a larger union....LONG story. Anyway, so we are represented
by an attorney in the area who works with many different districts unions in
some capacity and even does work for OEA. In our district, it is
customary that the President is at the negotiating table. This year, all 4 unions
in the district are negotiating. Some of the other unions have already
started. It is my understanding from speaking to them, that this time, the
district is even pushing boundaries with this, in that, they are at times
insisting on only speaking to the President and the Rep. Of course, it is
simply another "tactic". I do not believe though that even if I were not "at
the table", that they would not be tempted to still retaliate, knowing I
was still "behind the scenes". You are right though.....it would be
illegal for them to do but it would be a matter of proving it.
Can you see though why I have this tug-of-war going on in head!!!! It's
maddening! LOL
Nicole
In a message dated 5/25/2014 10:09:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org writes:
Nicole,,
Debra Baker one more time. I just realized: I don't know about your
district, but when we bargained in my district, the union president never
sat at the actual negotiations table anyway, just as the board president
didn't either. Perhaps that would be best for you considering this matter.
Talk with your labor relations rep. Of course your team would keep you
informed about bargaining at all points. But perhaps you wouldn't sit at
the table.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of via
Ohio-talk
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2014 9:39 PM
To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] looking for advice
Hi Colleen (and all),
You are right that sometimes you do have to go to the next step. I do
believe I am probably at that point.
With that said, as you stated, sometimes there are risks involved. To
further complicate my situation, there is something I didn't share in my
original message....because it really shouldn't matter....but it is what
is
making me hesitate on this.
You see, I am also a union president. We are negotiating our contract
this
year and negotiations are slated to be done in June and July. My concern
is that if I do go outside the district and file a complaint, that they
may
take that and lash back by taking it out on the union during negotiations.
Negotiations are already anticipated to be tough this year and I am
fearful
they would retaliate....and I think it would be difficult to prove that
that is what they were actually doing. Does that make any sense?
Like I said....it shouldn't matter...but the reality is, the timing
stinks.
So that is what is making me hesitate. I meet with the union's attorney
this week about negotiations and am hoping to get her take on the matter
then.
Thanks for your input!
Nicole
In a message dated 5/24/2014 3:13:22 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org writes:
Hello Nicole,
I can tell you from personal experience that sometimes it is necessary to
go to the next step when the powers that be are not willing to work with
you when you ask for reasonable accommodations.
While there are some risks when you go from the Soft Approach and
Internal
Mediation sometimes you have to decide that you need to go outside the
agency you work for even if this is somewhat intimidating.
Sometimes people want to make it difficult for someone in hopes that they
will give up and leave their position.
As Marianne said a good paper trail is your best bet.
Document, document, document.
You are the only person who can decide what you want to do in this
situation.
I would like to encourage you to go to the next step sooner rather than
later because the more you allow people to ignore their agreement and
reasonable accommodation request the more they will do so.
Colleen Roth
----- Original Message -----
From: via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Date: Friday, May 23, 2014 11:09:15 PM
Subject: [Ohio-talk] looking for advice
>
>
>
> Hi,
> I am not one to put messages on the list very often and when I do,
> it
is
> typically responding to someone else's message.
> I am looking for some advice from others though...ffget an idea of
> what
> others might do in my situation. I apologize for the length.
> Just some quick background information first. I am legally blind.
I
am
> finishing my 12th year of teaching in an inner city public school
system
> as a special education teacher. I have taught in the same school
district
> for my entire career. They hired me knowing that I was legally
> blind
and
> might need a couple reasonable accommodations. For 10 years or so,
> the district's administration was very helpful and very willing to
> provide
any
> reasonable accommodations to me I requested. I certainly wasn't
pushy
and only
> asked for things that were essential. They were always more than
willing
> to comply with my requests and never questioned anything. Even during
> those 10 years, I had several different principals, 2 different
> Special Education directors, and a couple different Superintendents
> that I
worked under.
> For the most part, with the exception of one principal that caused
> problems for everyone, I had no issues with any administration and
> any
requests I
> made. The one issue I did have with the principal, the
> Superintendent
at
> the time quickly corrected the issue.
> In the last couple years, we have acquired a new Superintendent, a new
> Special Education director, and new principals. The response I have
> received from the current administration has been very different.
> At the beginning of December of last year, I made a request for a
> reasonable accommodation to my principals. They ignored my request.
I again asked
> a couple more times, getting more specific and more direct each time...
> .while still being professional and respectful. I was still
ignored.
Then at
> the beginning of January, I contacted the Superintendent in an
> attempt
to
> resolve the issue, which had worked the one other time I had had
> issues
with
> a principal. The Superintendent also ignored my attempt to contact
him
> and never responded. After discussing it with our union's attorney
(who
> also happens to practice disability law), it was decided that I would
file an
> internal ADA complaint within the district. I filed the complaint and
> chose to have our union's attorney act as my representation. The
district
> contacted their attorney who then contacted my attorney. After some
> discussion and despite my anger, I agreed to mediate the issue
> without
the district
> having to go through the investigation process first. Although I was
> angry because I felt that the district's actions were totally out of
line and
> unnecessary, I was not going into this with an attitude of "I'm out
> to
get
> them". I just wanted to continue to be treated in the same manner
I
had
> been for 10 years and be provided reasonable accommodations when I
> requested them, nothing more. We held a meeting where it was myself,
my attorney,
> the district's attorney, and administration. We came to a written and
> signed agreement between the district and myself as to the reasonable
> accommodations that I needed and the district was willing to provide.
I thought
> with the signed agreement and my dismissal of the complaint, that
> we'd
all
> be able to move on and I'd get what I needed. The agreement was
supposed
> to be distributed to all administrators that I work with or under so
that
> they were aware of the agreement and its contents. About 2 weeks
later, I
> was speaking to one of the administrators and I mentioned the
agreement....and
> they seemed to be unaware of the agreement or its contents. This
concerned
> me. I asked a couple other administrators and received the same
response.
> So I called my attorney and told her my concerns. I said "How can
> I expect these people to follow an agreement that they don't even
> seem to
be
> aware of? I mean, that doesn't seem very fair to them." She then
contacted
> the district's attorney and we ended up on a three-way conference
call. I
> explained my concerns. She did have documentation that all the
> administration had been informed of it but stated that she would make
contact again
> with the Superintendent's office and tell them that they needed to
> check
> again with their administrators to ensure they were well aware of the
agreement
> and expectations. Again, I wasn't out to "get them"...I was simply
just
> trying to prevent another issue. This was like 2 months ago.
> So, now comes today. I was at a district level professional
development
> meeting in which I was to be provided a reasonable accommodation
> that
would
> allow me gain the information I needed and fully participate in the
> professional development. Mind you, this professional development is
information
> and training on our new state level teacher evaluation
> system....which
in
> turn, directly correlates to my evaluation and ultimately, my job.
So, yes,
> it is extremely important stuff. The accommodation I was to be
> provided today was on the signed agreement we made months ago. The
> two administrators who ran the professional development were both
> people who
were provided
> the information....one of which was ironically, the Special Education
> director. Despite the agreement, I was not provided the
accommodation. I had to
> go through the training without it. Needless to say, I am angry
and
> frustrated. I had 10 great years with no issues. I've tried very
hard to
> work with the current administration and have tried to understanding
and
> forgiving. I've given them chances to make things right and do the
right
> thing. They just don't seem to care!!!
> So, my question is......._what avenue would you do next? Would you
> try
and
> mediate yet again, even though they are obviously refusing to follow
> the
> agreement that is already made? Would you file a complaint outside
the
> district? What direction would you take from here? What
suggestions do you
> have?
> Any thoughts are appreciated!
> Thanks in advance,
> Nicole
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