Since the Monroe BOE Secretaries voted unanimously for UPSEU in March 2011, we have been hard at work advocating for the rights of our members. Prior to the start of the 2011-2012 school year, two secretaries were laid off with recall rights. UPSEU immediately contacted the Monroe BOE to investigate several openings that appeared to be remaining vacant. Matt Geer, UPSEU Labor Relations Representative, presented numerous facts to the District which not only led the vacancies being filled, but also ensured that the BOE fill those vacancies with the members who were recently laid off. Sharon Williams stated, “I couldn’t be happier with how things turned out. I feel Matt, UPSEU and our union president have been very instrumental in getting me back to work after a layoff and have been by my side the whole time. Prior to UPSEU, it was quite the opposite. Matt even called me to see if I’m happy and how things are going so far. I feel so represented by the union, and I’m thrilled!!”

The next issue that UPSEU tackled was an issue that went untouched for numerous years by the Monroe BOE Secretaries former Union, IFPTE. The paraprofessionals in the District (now represented by UPSEU as well) had four members who were performing secretarial bargaining unit work. Matt Geer met with both the Paraprofessionals Unit President and the Secretaries Unit President to make sure that everyone was on the same page prior to moving forward. After several meetings with the superintendent, he finally agreed to offer to move those four paraprofessionals to the secretary bargaining unit. Each of them agreed to move to the secretary bargaining unit with a substantial pay increase, ranging from $6,000 to $12,000. In addition, UPSEU was able to get retro pay back to the start of the school year, which equated to $1,000 to $2,000 for each as well. “I have been a paraprofessional since 1998 in the classroom at Stepney Elementary School and transferred to Fawn Hollow working as a clerical paraprofessional in the office. Last school year I inquired about my position (as well as any other clerical paraprofessional spots) to be made into a secretary position. Matt Geer, who has fought tremendously on our behalf, achieved getting this change for us. I am very grateful for this opportunity since it came with a generous raise and the added benefit of having a pension and extra personal days. I thank Matt Geer, as well as the Monroe Board of Education for making this possible,” stated Roxana Castro. Another former Paraprofessional, Carmen Mancuso, who benefited from the move to the secretaries bargaining unit had this to say, “I really appreciate the timely work and outcome. No smoke and mirrors, but actual changes.”

The Monroe BOE Secretaries contract which UPSEU inherited has a wage grid that places the secretaries into either a Grade III, Grade II, Grade I, and a Grade A (with A being the highest salary grade). Numerous secretaries in the District are misplaced into lower grades than the work that they are actually performing and many have contacted Matt Geer from UPSEU to have their voices heard. Since March 2011, UPSEU has been able to convince the District on separate occasions that five members should be upgraded to higher grades due to the work that they are performing. Linda Smeraglino stated, “I personally have gained from UPSEU’s hard work and perseverance, I am in my seventeenth year as a secretary and was feeling frustrated by the lack of advancement in my position. I very much enjoy my job but was feeling unappreciated for the level of responsibility and the difficulty of the work that was involved. I tried with our previous union to have my position upgraded to no avail. When UPSEU took over this spring, I spoke with the union representative and gave him all my documentation from the past of my fight with the past president and union. UPSEU read over my case, interviewed me and scheduled a meeting with the Board of Education personnel to plea my case. The ending of the story is a happy one. I did advance, and even more than I anticipated.”

The Unit President, Carolyn D’Andria had this to say about the representation their membership was receiving from UPSEU, “Being president for the first time was made easy having Matt Geer as our representative. Matt has been outstanding and is available seven days a week. In the short time that we have been represented by Matt, he has had numerous accomplishments. Not only does he take an interest in work related issues, but if Matt knows you have personal problems he calls to ask how is everything going and to let you know he is there for you if needed. He is outstanding and I cannot say enough about Matt. He made sure our entire membership had all his contact numbers and email address. All our members are allowed to contact Matt directly and he is always in contact once an email or phone call is made. We have Wayne Gilbert for negotiations and he is amazing. Wayne has taken the time to educate the negotiating team and will answer all our questions with patience. I have a great deal of respect for Wayne. So all in all, I am happy to have UPSEU as my representative and I look forward to the future with confidence knowing that UPSEU is in our corner.”