Metro Council Stands Up for MNPS Employees

Resolution Urges Register & School Board to Uphold Their Own Labor Policy

Metro Council members voted by an overwhelming majority to urge the Metro School Board and its director Jesse Register to stop attacking the public employees who work in Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Resolution RS2012-162 was sponsored by Bo Mitchell and at least ten co-sponsors. It urges the Director of Schools and the Board to abide by its own Labor Negotiations Policy, which was first adopted in July, 2000. That policy clearly allowed that employees have the right to form and join a union and a right to meet and confer with the Director of Schools on matters related to pay, working conditions, and other conditions of employment. The MNPS Labor Negotiations Policy had been “rescinded” by Dr. Register at the end of last year, even though the Board has never taken any action to rescind or change that policy. Dr. Register's other anti-worker decision - to rewrite the Support Employee Handbook without input from employees and without approval from the Board - also demonstrates a disregard for Board policy and the productive relationships between the unions and administrators that has existed for over a decade.

Council lady Karen Johnson, who served on the Metro School Board, dismissed Register's claims that he is allowed to act without authorization from his Board. "I was there when the governance policy was debated," Johnson said from the council floor. "The director of schools cannot overturn Board policy." Councilman Jerry Maynard asked the council's attorney if the school system is allowed to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with employee groups. "Yes," replied Jon Cooper.  Council lady Emily Evans pointed out that Register's actions against the employees do nothing to help test scores or to get more funding for the schools. "This is a gratuitous political fight," Evans said of Register's actions. "All this does is create a needless controversy at MNPS".

Recco Seay, an in-school suspension monitor at MNPS (and an SEIU member) was in the audience to see how the vote came out. "This was my first Metro Council meeting and I was very glad to see that the Council members have our backs on this," Recco says. "It's important that workers have a voice at the table and I think this is a positive sign that people all across the city support us and what we do".

The vote by council members in support of the resolution was overwhelming. It passed with 29 voting Yes, 5 Voting No and the rest either abstaining or absent. Votes against the resolution (and the union) were Steve Glover, Josh Stites, Phil Claiborne, Tony Tenpenny, and Carter Todd.

We encourage SEIU members and their families to contact the Metro Council members who voted in favor of the resolution and thank them for standing up for Nashville's working families.