SLPS slow to pay raise to some; Teachers upset
It seems some St. Louis Public School teachers did not receive their retroactive raises this past Friday, and aren’t happy about it.
The school board approved a 3 percent raise this spring, retroactive to July 1 last year. Teachers said they should have gotten the bump this past Friday. At least one teacher said today that she thought the district left out certain people on purpose.
Local 420’s Ray Cummings disagrees. “I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” said the teachers union leader. “When you’re dealing with 2,800 (teachers), there are going to be some mistakes.”
Cummings didn’t know exactly how many teachers weren’t paid, but he said, while the union office has gotten a lot of phone calls, he thinks it’s probably fewer than 100.
He understands the teacher’s sentiment, though: “There’s been so much instability for so long, and so many broken promises, even an honest mistake at this point looks like a broken promise.”
Cummings said the district has assured the union it’s going to straighten out the problem.
Phone calls to the payroll department went unheeded. But, just moments ago, I got a call from the superintendent himself. Kelvin Adams said about 200 of the districts 4,800 total employees didn’t get the raise, specifically those who had left the district, those on leave, and some who started less than a year ago.
They should all get paid, he said, on July 10.
Pay raises in a broke district?
Nice…
Even if it is 200 people, why should they have to wait until longer for money due last Friday? The economy is not great and they should not have to wait for what the district owes them. Broke or not - write them a check!
Why isn’t the union insisting it be paid now? Isn’t that what a union is supposed to do? Stand up for what they bargained for? Assurances don’t pay people’s bills.
The Union is insisting that the retro pay be paid now. They are standing up for what was bargained. Any action to force the District to pay such as going to court or filing a grievance isn’t going to get the money paid any sooner and might actually delay payment. What do you want Mary Armstrong and Ray Cummings to do? I guess you think they could go down to the offices of the SLPS, grab Kelvin Adams by the neck and shake him until the money falls out of his pockets.
Why is this just being mentioned since it happened last Friday, especially if the union is pushing for SLPS to pay now? It would seem money due last Friday should have been paid to those overlooked by now. Where is the School Board involvement? There should be rules for errors in pay, such as writing checks as soon as error is noted.
This is just more confusing SLPS stuff…
An employee mistake (incomplete time card, etc.) can be resolved the next pay period, but an employer’s mistake should be resolved immediately upon the error being found.
Shame on you SLPS!
Broke or not - write them a check!
— Joanie
4:25 am July 1st, 2009
gotta love that thought process!!
The bad thought process was SLPS agreeing to pay raises if they are broke. Once you agree, you have committed to following through. Something they are not apparently doing at this time. Besides, the union should be protesting loudly like they do everything else. Where is their voice?
“There’s been so much instability for so long, and so many broken promises, even an honest mistake at this point looks like a broken promise.”
Interesting, after reading the editorial today.
Talk to some SLPS teaachers who weren’t paid the retroactive pay - guess what? SLPS got it right, the union got it wrong. Explains everything to me.
I was one of the teachers who did not receive the retro pay. It is July 10th and I still have yet to see the money.