Proper Changes must occur in PGCPS & with the Unions.

As we celebrate the spring and the  second Presidential Inauguration of President Obama, let us use this time to spread good cheer while reaching out to those less fortunate in our communities throughout this  year! In particular, let us remember the homeless youth, the disabled, the sick, those without food, orphans, and the elderly, who may not have much to celebrate during these hard economic times.

We are thankful for the changes  our county has already made. However, We have a long way to go. The initiatives we helped create and advance within PGCPS strengthen the notion that working collaboratively can help achieve positive results. As we move forward here in PG County, let us focus on the role of our Unions. We have several of them which collect millions of dollars from your paychecks and for the most part, they do not do what they promise. The attorneys hired to help represent due paying membership and other representatives are in bed with management and are corrupt. We must reject this scenario if we expect to have a world-class school system. It’s very sad the leadership is a conglomerate of corruption that has outlived their usefulness in several ways by continuing the corruption, nepotism and unprofessional conduct.

“We want politics in Prince George’s County that are hinged on policies and clear vision but not old age corruption.” Some of them leaders may be young but their minds are stuck on old ways.

In other areas, some union executives mislead the public in order to stay in the news for the sake of their illicit affair. It is these leaders who are heart of the problems in the County schools. These kind of shenanigans should be rejected by all. It’s time for a new beginning, and a new strong Superintendent of schools who will address these issues heads on. As much as we would like to have Dr. Alvin L. Crawley stay, We have strong reservations of his leadership after observing him throughout this year.  Several students have died under his watch, discriminatory conduct, nepotism continues  and he has not reached out to the opposition which includes members of our group who have  a better understanding of the issues at hand.  PGCPS needs a leader who is hand on, and who can walk the walk and talk the talk. According to our considered opinion Dr. Crawley is too beholden to the school board, and they are the reason this County school system  has not improved.  Our top priorities remains the top priorities (See them here) and they must be addressed.

This year, we encourage the entire Union membership whether it is members of ASASP, PGCEA, ACE-AFSCME Local 2250 or SEIU, to take an active role through your executive councils, or in person in your respective unions and help create innovation and accountability within your Unions. We must help restore sanity in our PG county Unions which are the spear. The grievance system which is supposed to help correct problems within the schools does not work anymore. This is because the Union leadership and staff is compromised in all four Unions. Whereas, We support the role of the Unions around the world.  We must demand accountability, transparency and innovation for the sake of our children, staff, and families of the Prince George’s County.  If the Unions can not see the conflicts of interest they have created locally, Members should get back their dues because of their discriminative tendencies and lack of representation. We deserve a better system and are requesting immediate changes. We have had enough.  If you have experienced or have had a problems with your Union due to lack of proper representation, Please mail your complaint to Maryland State Labor Relations Boards  (PSLRB) without delay.  The PSLRB is located at the following address:

George M. Taylor District Court / Multi Service Center
7500 Ritchie Highway, Room 204-2A
Glen Burnie, MD  21061

Attached herein is a General Dispute Resolution Form to report any problem you might be experiencing with your Union. It’s time. ~~~~>           PSLRBChargeofStatutoryViolation(PSLRB-05)

If you have any questions or concerns email our secretariat at reformsasscer@Gmail.com or even better, call your elected officials and demand proper changes.

The ship has not been sailing in the right direction for sometime now and we must stop the craziness at Sasscer before it’s too late. We can’t afford the delay anymore. They preach water and then drink wine.

 

Why unions are problematic in PGCPS District.

As much as we would rather not accept it, while unions have done a lot of good and have helped workers avoid exploitation, they also seem to have helped senior administrators including superintendent of schools and other senior administrators within the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) in several cases exploit workers. Perhaps it has been a gradual shift over time, with some Unions slowly accumulating more and more power and colluding with management in many cases to abuse employees within PGCPS School District and elsewhere.

Unions in many cases can have the power to impede an organization’s ability to compete and thrive. A school District might be in desperate trouble, yet its unions may be unwilling to bend or compromise in order to help the systems survive. Many school districts around the country are finding themselves left very inflexible when they have Union contracts to abide by which might be good for workers. However, what is happening in PGCPS is driven by pure selfish greed among the Union personnel who are involved in corruption especially within Maryland State Educator Association (MSEA).  The PGCEA attorney involved in the grievance procedure a Mr. Damon Felton from MSEA (Pictured here on the right) has been acting  in conspiracy with others engaged in corruption with regards to processing grievances and other matters. The grievance system in PG county has failed in accomplishing its initial mission and in this scenerio, students and families of Prince George’s County suffer. There is a direct co–relation with the mal-practice by the union staff which has led to increasing discontent within the entire school District. This dissatisfaction, if not dealt with appropriately, ends up boiling down to an uncomfortable situation and an unpleasant word called ‘stress.’

“Stress is a normal physiological response to ‘danger’ as perceived by the body or brain. The factors that lead to stress can be self-induced as well as induced by the surroundings. Employee stress shows a direct impact on an organization’s business. While from the business angle it can affect productivity, client service, profits and team work, from the individual’s perspective it can lead to deteriorating morale and self-esteem, low confidence levels, health hassles and a troubled personal life.

In many cases, the Union staff involved in negotiations has been busy lining their own pockets or involved in illicit acts as shown in other areas as well  for example ACE-AFSCME Local 2250, ASASP,  SEIU  and PGCEA Unions to the dismay of many members and the community at large. The Union staff members involved in this activity have been violating their oath of office in several ways. They have been acting in questionable ways including lying, bribing select candidates for the local board office among other issues. (The Board members who are the target of bribery and back door campaign contributions are well-known). These issues need to be addressed or brought to a stop without any further delay within PGCPS School District. The PG County delegation  needs to look into these issues and stop the practice.  If the Unions want to serve and assist, they ought to be accountable or made  to account by various stake holders and they must play by the rules. We cannot afford to have a few elements destroy our democratic institutions for what appears to be purely personal greed driven by malice.

Public life means meeting our shared responsibilities, caring for one another, and building the mutual trust upon which democracy depends. The recommendations below are special cases of these moral principles. They also represent a special case of a general strategy – to restore public life to American democracy which includes Prince George’s County School District.

1. We must return the public to our political system and end the corrupt influence of selfish interests that have abandoned our shared responsibilities. This means public finance of campaigns, strict enforcement of the highest ethical standards in public life, and protection of the sacred right to vote.

2. Our nation has vast national wealth: a huge continental landmass with wealth in minerals, agricultural land, forests, cities, beautiful places, as well as its public wealth, that is, the creative wealth of its educated citizenry and the collective wealth of all its citizens and corporations. We, the public, can put our nation’s vast wealth to use in creating jobs that make the lives of all better: building, educating, curing, and imagining. That is the Dream.

To realize the Dream, we must end the Nightmare.

3. We must turn back the Right’s assault on public and higher education and meet our traditional commitment to education. Our children are tomorrow’s public. The future of democracy depends upon them.

4. We must rebuild our public infrastructure, a fancy term for the necessities we share: roads, bridges, dams, parks, fair grounds, water mains, sewers, and the power grid; public agencies that monitor disease, weather and food safety. Government that works for all of us can and should create jobs that serve us all by rebuilding our shared necessities.

5. We must come together publicly to mutually ensure the health of all America. Health is not a private matter. It is public one.

6. We must protect the prior earnings of American workers set aside in Social Security or private pensions. They have been earned through hard work and discipline. Taking these earnings away is theft, despite the Right’s use of the word “entitlements.”

7. A public of unequal voices is not a democratic public. We need a progressive tax system through which all Americans pay their fair share and a business ethics that fairly rewards those whose work creates productivity and profit.

8. We must put the American individual above abstract corporate entities. We must end “corporate personhood,” which gives transnational corporations a greater voice than individuals in our public deliberations.

9. We must end the move to “privatize” institutions through which we meet our shared responsibilities. When the public is removed, the private sphere takes over, charging more, and often creating unaccountable monopolies that bilk the public. Privatization of the public typically means that most citizens just pay more, often a lot more.

10. Discrimination of all kinds must be overcome. Public life depends upon recognition of our equal humanity.

This is why Democracy is, and must remain, public. This is why America has traditionally been a beacon to the world. This is the example America has set. We dare not give it up. The alternative is the Nightmare.