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| Settlement
bolsters improperly fired paraprofessional Special Act district targeted Tyrone Galimore for his union activism 
April 21, 2004 Chris Meagher, Tyrone Galimore and Jeff Cassidy stand with a picket sign used during informational picketing for which Greenburgh 11 Federation of Teachers FT members, including Galimore, were unfairly disciplined a decade ago In yet another victory upholding the rights of union members, the Children's
Village school board has agreed to pay more than $200,000 to a teaching
associate it improperly fired almost 10 years ago. "The message that union-busting campaigns carry a hefty price tag has been clear," said New York State United Teachers President Tom Hobart. "Now it's consistent: If you trample on workers' constitutional rights to be involved in a union, the union will fight back, and we will win." NYSUT noted Galimore's union activism in naming him the state union's School-Related Professionals Employee of the Year in 1997. Anti-union The protracted legal wranglings in the Westchester County Special Act district started more than a decade ago as the district was building a history of anti-union hostility. The Greenburgh 11 school district was formed by special act of the state Legislature for educating children who live at the Children's Village agency. The "school board" is not elected — it has the same membership as the board that governs the Children's Village residential facility. Special Act districts receive students referred through the courts, counties and special ed entities; it can be hard to reach relatives and guardians of these children, compared to the opportunities for public discourse inherent in a traditional school district. In March 1994, GFT members picketed outside a Children's Village function to inform those attending about the lack of a contract, waste and mismanagement. Three months later, the school board retaliated by suspending all GFT leaders who participated in that picket. Little did anyone know that was but the "first wave" of retaliation. Although Galimore was on the union's executive board, he was not on that picket line, so he kept his job until Nov. 11, 1994, when he and 12 others were suspended for gathering as an "unruly mob" after the June school board meeting. That became the "second wave." In September 1995, there was a "third wave" of retaliation when the board fired another round of union supporters for the same event. That case was settled two years ago with the $1.5 million settlement. Even though a state Supreme Court justice and the state Public Employment Relations Board voided the charges and ordered Galimore and others be reinstated to their jobs in 1996, the Greenburgh 11 district appealed. While teachers still received paychecks through due process proceedings, Galimore (who was hired by the district in 1987 as a child care worker and in 1988 became a teaching associate), did not have that protection. Although he did receive financial assistance from the union, it wasn't enough to cover expenses. He tried without success to find work in neighboring districts. "I had worked at Children's Village for seven years," he said. "Once districts found out I'd been fired, I didn't get a call back." Meanwhile, he was going deeper in debt and stress. "But I always felt supported by everybody in the union," Galimore said, noting that John Goetchius, GFT president during those years, "was there for me 110 percent, every time I called." Galimore eventually found a job as a crisis intervention coordinator at the CAGE Teen Center in White Plains. "Even though it was not anywhere near the same pay, at least it was working with troubled youths again," he said. In 1997, NYSUT honored Galimore with its School-Related Professionals Employee of the Year award. At the union convention, NYSUT was celebrating its 25-year anniversary. Galimore learned then how many battles the union had fought, and won, throughout its history. "I met so many people who told me to stick with it," he said, citing Glenn Lucas, an officer in the New Rochelle Federation of United School Employees. In 2001, Galimore rejoined NYSUT when he was hired as a teaching assistant at the New Rochelle schools. "Glenn always supported me so I was glad to get a job with his local," said Galimore, who this spring received tenure as a teaching assistant in New Rochelle. Other consistent supporters were NYSUT's field and legal staff. Labor relations specialist Jeff Cassidy and NYSUT attorney Chris Meagher kept working the case as it wound its way through arbitration. "The roots of the Greenburgh 11 case are so entangled that it can be hard to see it clearly," Meagher said. "So much time has gone by, people tend to forget what happened to these people who were victimized by the district." Of the others in the second wave, three are still awaiting reinstatement or their back pay, several have settled and one died. The Greenburgh 11 case is a perfect example of why workers still need unions, noted Hobart. "When an employer breaks the law, a single worker saying 'no' has little chance of being heard," said Pauline Kinsella, NYSUT executive director of field and legal services. "But by standing together, the Greenburgh 11 Federation of Teachers, along with the solidarity of NYSUT and many of its locals, created a group large enough to be reckoned with." Galimore, who received the settlement this month, remains grateful for the support. "This money is going to help me get out of the debt I got into and then help me to continue my education," he said. Now in his late 30s, he has not decided yet between social work, counseling or teaching. — Betsy Sandberg |
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