VOLUNTOWN—Paraeducators, nurses, custodians, bus drivers, and administrative personnel in Voluntown Elementary School urged elected officials to begin negotiations for a successor contract at last night's Board of Education meeting. The school's non-certified employees made clear their commitment to a quality education experience for the students they serve and to speak out for smarter use of scarce local resources.

"We were ready to present our proposals after the first meeting in January," said Angela Wagner, a paraprofessional who works at the elementary school, during last night's meeting. "Now we are facing protracted litigation, and you have asked for arbitration even though neither side has presented a single idea in negotiations," Wagner, the Secretary of the CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 chapter representing the schools' non-certified workers, said.

Wagner's comments refer to a complaint she and her co-workers in the Union filed with the State Board of Labor Relations on Monday. At issue is the school board's refusal to bargain in good faith with its workforce and its claims of "impasse" after just three meetings and before commencing contract negotiations.

"This is a huge waste of time and taxpayers' money," said Alanna Malinowski, who also works as a paraprofessional in Voluntown Elementary School. "Members of the Board, you, and only you, have the ability to end this nonsense," Malinowski, the Vice-President of the Union's Chapter, said in her remarks last night.

Malinowski's comments refer to the decision of Voluntown school officials in February to impose arbitration proceedings to resolve contract negotiations that have not yet begun. She made clear that she did not appreciate her elected officials choosing to waste scare resources on lawyers for legal hearings.

Local taxpayers joined the school employees last night in expressing frustration with the Board of Education's position. They echoed the message that negotiating a fair agreement with non-certified school employees would preserve education services without costly arbitration.

CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 represents 25,000 active and retired public sector workers serving in state and municipal agencies, as well as local school districts across Connecticut. Visit www.seiu2001.org online for more information about how its members are working to deliver quality services to students in our state's K-12 public education settings.