3 Unions Await Vote Results in Inglewood School District

Three unions that have been waging a bitter battle for almost a year to represent non-teaching employees in Inglewood’s schools will find out the employees’ choice next week when state labor officials tally ballots that have been impounded for months.

The controversy began last May when the Inglewood Teachers Assn. filed a decertification petition with the Public Employment Relations Board to take over representation of classified employees from the current union, the California School Employees Assn.

A week later, California Professional Education Employees, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO known as CalPro, also filed decertification papers with state labor officials.

CSEA, which has represented the approximately 500 classified employees in Inglewood for more than three decades, appealed both decertification attempts on the grounds that they contained irregularities that made them illegal. The classified employees include aides, peace officers, truck drivers, records clerks, secretaries and other staff members.

Charles F. McClamma, the state labor relations specialist handling the case, ruled that both decertification petitions were valid and that an election should be conducted.

The election was conducted by mail beginning in December, even as CSEA appealed McClamma’s decision to state board officials in Sacramento. The ballots were impounded pending a decision from the board.

Last month, the board denied CSEA’s appeal. Earlier this month, McClamma dismissed another CSEA appeal, clearing the way for counting the ballots.

But even after the ballots are counted Monday, the controversy may not be immediately resolved.

Employees had four choices on the ballot--no representation, the Inglewood Teachers Assn., CalPro or their current union, CSEA. In order to represent the employees, one union must win a majority of the votes or win a subsequent runoff election. Even if one of the unions does win a majority, the other parties can file objections about the conduct of the election.

“There’s been so much contention so far that I assume it will continue,” said McClamma, the state labor relations official. “Someone is going to be unhappy.”

Representatives from all three unions expressed optimism that they would come out on top.

Cheryl Bell, president of the Inglewood Teachers Assn., said combining classified employees with teachers in one union would increase the bargaining power for both groups.

CalPro labor organizer Christopher Graber accused CSEA of shoddy representation in negotiating last year’s contract for classified employees.

“Unions are like politicians,” Graber said. “If you don’t represent people properly, people have a right to replace you.”

CalPro has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the state board, arguing that there were voting irregularities during the balloting, a charge CSEA is challenging.

CSEA’s latest contract settlement with the district, reached last June, calls for non-teaching employees to get 2% salary increases for 1988 through 1990 with a clause that will provide them with the same raises teachers get if the funds are available. Classified employees received the 2% raise in 1988 and 1989. However, teachers received no pay increases for those years and have been negotiating with the district for a contract since the beginning of this year.

A CSEA official defended the contract and predicted that the balloting will show that classified employees support their union.

“The district is in a situation where they don’t have funds available for a huge pay increase,” said CSEA field representative Barbara Miller. “ . . . We got the best we could at the time.”

Miller said CSEA officials are optimistic that “we’re going to be in there in the running.”