Stand with Unionized Childcare Employees at Springfield Partners for Community Action!
Executive Director Paul Bailey and the SPCA Board of Directors
Donate to our hardship fund!
Update as of Wednesday, May 10, 2023:
The teachers and childcare workers at SPCA will return to work tomorrow after a successful bargaining session that puts us on the path towards a full agreement!
Today, we agreed to implement significant wage increases starting tomorrow. Management also agreed to continue negotiating over compensation and personal time when the state budget is finalized early this summer. While we do not yet have a full tentative agreement, we are confident that going back to work these months under an expired contract having won immediate materials wins will enable us to negotiate a fair contract that meets the demands of the teachers and childcare workers. Members collectively made this decision with parents and children in mind. Teachers and childcare workers are excited to get back to work tomorrow to continue supporting the community.
Update as of Tuesday, May 9, 2023:
Join us on the picket line tomorrow, May 10, from 8:30am to 4pm. Tomorrow is the day to show up—right when the picket ends at 4, we will be going into bargaining and hearing a counteroffer from management. We need to keep the pressure up and let them know that the community and the whole labor movement stand with these teachers!
While you’re on the line or before you head over, we need you to take 2 minutes to make one phone call to Paul Bailey, the Executive Director of SPCA. You can reach him at 413-263-6500. If you're not able to talk to someone, feel free to leave a message.
Sample script:
Hi, may I please speak to Paul Bailey, SPCA’s executive director?
My name is ___, and I’m a UAW member/community member. I’m calling to ask SPCA to negotiate in good faith with the hardworking members of UAW Local 2322 employed at Springfield Partners’ Early Learning Center. I support these striking teachers fighting for the respect they deserve!
These workers have been in negotiations with Springfield Partners since January, and they have been forced to go on strike because of your unwillingness to negotiate in good faith.
What these workers are asking for is reasonable—a living wage, adequate paid time off, and a dress code that allows them to do their job without distractions.
Instead, they have been met with disrespect from your lead counsel and a lack of transparency from you, which have hindered these important negotiations.
As a member of their community, I support these workers and urge you to reach an agreement with them that allows them to continue their important caregiving work in the Springfield community.
I will be watching as they exercise their right to strike in the face of unfair labor practices, and I hope you decide to treat these members with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Update as of Sunday, May 7, 2023:
Springfield Partners is an anti-poverty non-profit organization that provides a multitude of services to people in need in order to help them achieve economic stability. The Early Learning Center is one part of this organization. Workers in the Center are unionized with UAW 2322. The current starting rate for teachers is $16.50 an hour and some have sought services from Springfield Partners out of economic need. Union members have been in negotiations with Springfield Partners since January, and they have been met with disrespect and a lack of transparency from management and their lead counsel, Kathy Moore, at the bargaining table.
Our demands at the bargaining table are straightforward and reasonable:
We want a raise to keep up with the challenges and demands of the job. Many of us make under $17 an hour, and we need a significant raise to keep up with the cost of living and inflation. We are also understaffed, and we believe that fair wages are essential to recruiting and retaining teachers at the Early Learning Center. Management has cited “it’s business” at the bargaining table when discussing wages, and Director Paul Bailey has told us “You can’t get blood from a stone” when responding to our wage proposal. However, in the same breath, management illegally refuses to provide us with financial information that would allow us to negotiate effectively.
We are demanding an increase in our time off. As teachers and childcare workers, we have worked throughout the pandemic to serve working families in our community, and – like other teachers in this sector – we are experiencing high levels of burnout. We need a contract with enough time off to allow us to continue to serve our community as excellent and engaged early education professionals.
We are demanding a change in the dress code that reflects the reality of our job duties. Our job requires us to be agile to support the children we care for. The current wardrobe policy is arbitrary and sexist, prohibiting us from wearing flexible and comfortable clothes like leggings. It is not acceptable that most of us have been in a situation where we have ripped our clothing while at work. Management has not only refused this reasonable demand at the table, but Kathy Moore has insulted us by claiming there have been issues with us dressing “inappropriately” and implying that we are not responsible enough to dress appropriately and professionally at our workplace.
The union sent a letter to Paul Bailey outlining our frustrations with Springfield Partners’ tactics in negotiations and informing management of our unanimous strike authorization vote in the face of management's unfair labor practices. We, the unionized staff at Springfield Partners Early Learning Center, have shown commitment to our work and to the mission of the organization. We are asking that leadership at Springfield Partners do the same.
We ask you to add your signature in solidarity with Springfield Partners union members to tell Paul Bailey and Springfield Partners to treat union members with the respect and dignity we deserve.
Sponsored by
To:
Executive Director Paul Bailey and the SPCA Board of Directors
From:
[Your Name]
I support the Union members at the Springfield Partners for Community Action's Early Learning Center:
We, the Union Members at Springfield Partners for Community Action’s Early Learning Center, choose to work here because we believe in the work we do and in the organization’s mission - “to utilize and provide resources that assist people in need to obtain economic stability, ultimately creating a better way of life.” We believe in the mission of this organization and its place in our community. We, as unionized employees of the Early Learning Center, are part of that community, and that is why we are writing to you today.
We have been disappointed with our ongoing contract negotiations. We believe in the importance of professional and respectful negotiations regarding our working conditions and wages. Unfortunately, we leave these bargaining sessions feeling disrespected by what is said to us and about us. We have consistently felt disrespected and belittled by your counsel, Kathy Moore, as she has made comments about our workplace that we do not feel reflects our experience. While we have been told by Kathy that these negotiations are “just business,” we strongly believe that our concerns must be taken seriously in order to continue providing quality care to our community.
As the leader of the organization that employs us, we would like to hear more from you at the bargaining table. We believe these sessions would be more constructive if we could hear more from you and others who work with us at Springfield Partners. We want you to hear from us and know about our working conditions.
We demand:
Management provides us with the information we have requested so that we can move forward with negotiations. We have asked for financial information from management so that we can continue to negotiate on issues that greatly impact our lives. We have been disappointed by the lack of transparency in this process. You have told us, “We don’t have it to give at this point in time. We have what we have and we give what we can give.” Following this, we have asked for financial information to better understand the situation so we can continue to negotiate on economic issues. We have filed an Unfair Labor Practice over this issue.
Management’s lead negotiator has sent us a “last, best, and final” package proposal. Yet, we are waiting on information we have requested from you that is necessary to develop our counter proposals.
Management makes an effort to facilitate more professional, respectful, and productive negotiations. While there is distance between our proposals, it is important that we are treated like the professionals we are during bargaining sessions. We ask that each party provide agenda items they intend to discuss in advance of each bargaining session.
Management meets with us in-person to negotiate, with a hybrid option available for accessibility. We strive to be present at sessions, even though we have busy lives outside of work with many personal obligations. On multiple occasions, after taking issue with our visibility on camera, management’s lead negotiator has suggested that we hold bargaining in-person. When we agreed to this suggestion, we were denied the opportunity. We believe that these bargaining sessions could move forward if we were able to sit in the same room and negotiate. We have heard management’s concerns about in-person bargaining, and we are open to holding a hybrid meeting to accommodate these concerns.
On Wednesday, April 19th we unanimously voted to authorize a strike relating to Unfair Labor Practices. We are in the process of reaching out to allies in the community for support, and sharing the concerns we have shared with you in this letter with these allies.