Employees Explain Position in Dispute

Public Forum Hears Staff Grievances from Community Services
Personnel; Campaign for Union Heats Up

By MANDY LOCKE

Island Counseling Center employees - wading through an
unresolved labor dispute at Martha's Vineyard Community Services
- received unwavering support in the court of public opinion
Monday evening.

The forum, sponsored by ICC petitioners for a union and
representatives from Service Employees International Union local 767,
Hospital Workers Union, drew well over 40 past and current employees,
union representatives and concerned citizens. For more than an hour,
citizens asked questions and employees shared grievances - both
demanding change within Community Services.

"We're all here because we like the work. We could walk
away with our own two feet. But we wanted to change the system. Believe
me, I'm the last person who thought I'd be involved in a
union," ICC petitioner Rob Doyle told the audience.

"It's so tragic to see therapists develop warm and
meaningful relationships with clients and then be forced to say,
‘I cannot afford to stay here,' " ICC petitioner Jane
Cleare said.

"The union will give us another place to stand. [The
administration] ignored us, humiliated us. It gives us a different way
to get into a conversation," ICC petitioner Jane Dreeben said.

Inevitably, petitioners and union officials could not field the
majority of questions raised Monday night. An empty chair and a placard
bearing the name Ned Robinson-Lynch appeared at the head table. Mr.
Robinson-Lynch, Community Services executive director, announced last
week that he and board members would not attend the public forum because
of National Labor Relations Board constraints on administration during
proceedings.

"I can't help but notice there's an empty chair.
Why is he taking such an adversarial role against his staff?" Tim
Dobel of Oak Bluffs asked, pointing to Mr. Robinson-Lynch's empty
place.

"Rather than answering for him, why don't you just
submit questions and we can get those to him," Mr. Doyle said.

Despite the absence of Community Services leadership, the questions
continued.

"Is there a personnel committee on the board? It seems to be
the issue's more than salaries, it's about structure and the
system. They need to be apprised of their responsibility, because we
give them money. At one time, it was a functioning board. It may still
be, but nobody's here to tell me about it," former Community
Services board member Vera Shorter said.

"I'm confused about the budget. How is that made?"
someone else asked.

"I want to hear why [administration] does not want to pay
more. You don't respect your staff if you don't pay a living
wage. For an institution that has Community Services in its name,
it's not living up to that," Hospice nurse Juleann VanBelle
said.

"It's still not clear to me whether board meetings are
open or not," a woman in the back said.

"I'm hearing that staff tried to have a conversation.
Silence is the most aggressive response. When someone is disengaged,
it's more aggressive than any argument," Vineyard Haven
resident Cindy Doyle said.

"I don't hear one good, specific reason why
[administration] is opposed to the union," Michele Lazerow of Oak
Bluffs said.

Five ICC employees began the public forum by outlining the history
leading to the current campaign for union status.

"Since then, some policy and procedure issues have been
addressed. Morale has not. Wage and salary issues are ongoing,"
Ms. Dreeben said, explaining that organized efforts by ICC employees
began in the fall of 2000 after a program-wide retreat.

Nineteen ICC staff members filed a petition with the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) to form a bargaining unit on March 15, citing
consistency in client care, an articulated pay scale, due process,
living wages and respect from management as reasons for unionizing. Four
days of hearings in front of the NLRB followed to determine which
Community Services employees could vote on whether or not to have a
union. Both sides now agree that professional staff in ICC and Visiting
Nurse Service (VNS) can cast a vote during an election to be held in
early summer. The NLRB has yet to announce whether clinical supervisors
and graduate interns at ICC can vote in the election.

Ms. Dreeben reported that according to a survey within ICC and
independent research, ICC employees found that their salaries fell at
the lower end of the scale compared to averages for peers at similar
health and human service agencies in the state.

"Salaries varied a great deal. Some employees made 60 to 70
per cent of what they'd make off-Island. Others made 50 per cent.
We continue to look at job advertisements [for comparison]. It's
very demoralizing," Ms. Dreeben said.

In the past year, petitioners said they presented wage grievances to
administration. Supervisors within ICC then met individually with each
employee to discuss compensation. In January, all employees received a
two and a half per cent raise, and a small number of entry-level
employees received a 13 per cent pay increase.

"We've been told there was a financial crisis in the
state," ICC petitioner Amy Lilavois said, repeating the reason
management gave for not boosting salaries more.

"Having studied the annual report, do we see an opportunity to
be paid more?" an audience member asked.

Ms. Dreeben explained that according to records filed with the state
attorney general, Community Services funneled some $250,000 to $500,000
per year for the last five years into investments.

"It makes good fiscal sense, except that we've been told
they can't afford to pay us more," Ms. Dreeben said. She
added that the salaries of the top five managers at Community Services
fell on the higher end of the salary scale when compared to similar
positions at other institutions in the state.

Several former counselors from ICC said these wage inequities and
miscommunication between staff and management have existed at the agency
for quite some time.

"It was the same situation. We got together and had a meeting.
We talked about a union then. Years later, the situation is still the
same. I'm proud of you. I left because it was a situation that was
not workable. Six others left at that time as well," said Diane
McKeller, former substance abuse counselor at ICC from 1985 to 1995.

"For 14 years, I've been told we couldn't afford
[raises]. The two per cent raise doesn't keep up with cost of
living," ICC petitioner Bruce Balter said.

"I was an intern at ICC for two years. I went in to ask about
pay after I got my masters. They said I'd be making less than $10
an hour and that I'd have to work for three months before
receiving insurance. As an intern, I had great supervisors. I had worked
well above and beyond hours listed on the pay sheet. It goes beyond
salary. It's about treatment. At the Edgartown Council on Aging, I
have unlimited access to my board. If the [Community Services] board
doesn't know about the situation, then they need to learn it and
learn it fast," said former ICC graduate intern Susan Desmaris.

Another audience member asked if joining a union would address their
concerns.

Longtime hospital employee Bobbie Gibson, who has been a member of
the Hospital Workers Union, local 767 for 27 years, said the union
addressed all of their grievances with hospital management.

"It's the best thing you can imagine. Tell them you want
holidays. Tell them you want pay measures. You'll be much better
off for it," Ms. Gibson said.

Ms. Lilavois explained that ICC petitioners and union
representatives offered early resolution to the labor dispute by holding
a "card check" vote within ICC and VNS. The vote, conducted
by a neutral party, would allow clinical supervisors and interns to
vote.

Ms. Lilavois read the audience Mr. Robinson-Lynch's response
to their proposition.

"I have received a letter dated April 23, 2002, obviously
drafted by the union, requesting that MVCS go forward with an
alternative method that would allow the union to get into our agency
quickly and quietly, without going through the process established by
the NLRB. Neither I, nor the board of directors will allow that to
happen. Here's why: The process established by the NLRB allows
each individual eligible voter to make their decision in private and by
secret ballot. This union suggests that we should not allow employees
the opportunity to vote by secret ballot. That simply is unfair,
undemocratic and against all that we stand for," Mr.
Robinson-Lynch said in an internal memo on April 29, 2002.

VNS employee Cynthia Farrington said she is concerned that only
certain VNS employees may vote. "Home health aides are not
included. I'd be bitter if I were them," Ms. Farrington
said.

Ms. Cleare said other unions, particularly nonprofessional unions,
could enter Community Services later. "We're entirely
supportive of them. We're certainly not interested in excluding.
If this is successful, there's no way it won't spread. It
will affect everyone at Community Services," Ms. Cleare said.