Labor Board Complaint Against Gist Goes to Hearing

Labor Board Complaint Against Gist Goes to Hearing

A hearing will be held today over a complaint issued by the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board against the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE) for allegedly committing unfair labor practices in February 2010.

The complaint accuses Commissioner Deborah Gist of having "interfered with, restrained, and coerced members of Local 2012, AFT in exercising their rights," and in doing so "created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation" at RIDE.

Last year, the RIDE Professional Employees Union, Local 2012, AFT — the union of professional staff members working at RIDE, Channel 36, the School for the Deaf, and the Office of Higher Education — filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Charge in response to an email sent by Commissioner Gist at the onset of the mass firings of teachers at Central Falls High School in February.

The email, sent on Friday, February 19, 2010, threatened to take disciplinary action against Local 2012 members if they attended an after work rally on February 23, 2010 in support of the fired Central Falls teachers. On the same day that Gist sent the email, the President of Local 2012, AFT was also directed by her supervisor to remove two fliers from the Union bulletin board, one of which announced the Central Falls Teacher's Union (CFTU) rally.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Union says it reached out to Gist

Prior to the CFTU rally, the Union requested that Gist clarify the intentions of her email so that professional staff could choose to attend the rally without fear of reprisal. Gist never gave such clarification, prompting the Union to file the ULP. The charge claims that Commissioner interfered with the rights of its members, the professional staff at RIDE.

"Our members should be free to exercise their right to free speech, their right to assembly, and their right to support their assailed union brothers and sisters," said Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFTHP) field representative Michael J. Mullane. "These actions by the Commissioner denied our members' fundamental constitutional rights, stifled their free speech, and created an atmosphere that hinders their free expression. We hope with the full Board's affirmation of this Complaint, that the Commissioner will be made to understand the limits of her authority."

The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board, Building #73, 1511 Pontiac Ave., in Cranston.