Durham School workers claim victory, push for more at emergency meeting
Durham school employees say they're on a winning streak and are pushing for more.
At an emergency meeting Saturday afternoon, "Classified" DPS employees argued that now is the time to make sure their voices continue to be heard by DPS leadership.
For Nykia Watson, a member of DAE's organizing committee, it's been a painful change.
"200, almost 300 dollars, gone. Just gone," Watson said.
The DPS cafeteria worker is one of hundreds now facing a smaller paycheck after a roller coaster of changes and errors by DPS leadership.
"It's a lot of money, you know when you a mother," Watson said.
Saturday, Watson joined other members of the Durham Association of Education, the Union that represents about half of all classified DPS employees, inside a closed-door meeting at Eastway Elementary, trying to fight those changes.
"I'm just trying to stand up for what I believe in," Watson said.
Anna Benfield is an occupational therapist with DPS and a member of DAE's organizing committee.
"Today, we are walking out of this meeting with a sense of what is possible," Benfield said.
She says the Union has already accomplished two of its goals: making sure January paychecks stay unchanged and that employees can keep the salary paid out by DPS in what administrators have called an "overpayment issue."
"The Board of Education also found the money and committed to that," Benfield said.
Saturday's meeting came after weeks of raucous rallies and school board meetings, ultimately ending with DPS's CFO Paul LeSieur announcing his resignation.
Benfield says the next step is a true seat at the table with DPS leaders, a potentially unprecedented voice for workers like these.
"That we will be a full partner in forming the policies that impact our pay, or working conditions, and our students learning conditions," Benfield said.
