SAANYS Unit Wins Several Grievances
The Lackawanna Administrative Council, represented by Jason P. Jaros, SAANYS’ Buffalo Regional Counsel, successfully sustained several grievances brought against the Lackawanna City School District in December 2024. The Council saw these successes in three major cases:
1. The Council grieved the School District’s requirement that administrators report to work at the Middle School and High School during building closures in January 2024 due to plumbing/sewer issues. While teachers provided remote instruction, they did not have to actually report to the buildings. The arbitrator sustained the grievance, finding that under Section 1303.2 of the contract, administrators should not have been required to report when the buildings were closed and staff did not report. As a remedy, affected administrators were awarded compensatory time off for days they reported during the closures, and any who used leave time instead had it restored. The arbitrator did, however, deny the union’s request for premium pay, saying that he felt it would require him to rewrite the existing terms of the parties’ current collective bargaining agreement.
2. The Council also grieved the School District’s handling of negotiations over a new administrative position in early 2023. The union alleged the District violated Section 1404 of the contract by unilaterally ending negotiations over the position’s terms, conditions, and salary. While finding that some of the union proposals went beyond the scope required for negotiations by addressing all administrators rather than just the new position, the arbitrator sustained the grievance because the District improperly ceased negotiations before reaching an agreement. He ordered the parties to resume negotiations limited to the terms, conditions, and salary for the specific position as required by Section 1404.
3. The Council also filed three expedited grievances regarding administrative positions and transfers. The arbitrator sustained two of the three grievances:
a. The District violated the collective bargaining agreement by failing to negotiate the terms, conditions, and salary for a newly created Assistant Principal position at Truman Elementary School. The arbitrator ordered the District to negotiate these elements with the union.
b. The District violated posting requirements when filling the Middle School Principal vacancy by giving union members less than 24 hours notice before appointing an external candidate. While no remedy was needed since the position was later properly posted, the arbitrator ordered the District to cease and desist from engaging in such practices and to adhere to the contractual posting requirement of at least 5 days.
The arbitrator denied the third grievance filed, finding the District did not violate the collective bargaining agreement by failing to post the Assistant Principal position when transferring a Principal to that role, as there was no vacancy to post in that case.
Four of the five grievances arbitrated were decided in favor of the Council. The Council thanks the dedicated work of Mr. Jaros and the entire SAANYS team. If you believe your district is violating your collective bargaining agreement, have your union rep contact SAANYS’ Office of Counsel to assess whether the union has a valid grievance to file.