Food service workers in Hastings ISD 200 who are members of SEIU Local 284 officially are on strike. Workers were picketing Tuesday morning across from Hastings Middle School as parents dropped students off for school.

The Hastings School Board met Monday morning and made a final offer to the union, but it wasn’t enough to forge an agreement in the standoff. The union filed a 10-day notice to strike in late January. The group plans to picket at different locations daily, from 7-10:30 a.m. and 2-3:30 p.m. A location schedule can be found on the SEIU Local 284 Facebook page.

SEIU Local 284 represents 35 food service workers at ISD 200 schools. In a statement, the union said it has been bargaining with the school district since June 9 and that “any settlement needs to include a fair wage increase to combat the impact of historic inflation and maintain stability through regular hours and health insurance benefits.”

The group also held a rally on the steps of Hastings City Hall Monday afternoon.

“While district leaders have seen huge raises, food service workers who kept students fed during COVID start out at less than $15 per hour. These essential, frontline workers have spoken out about the disrespectful offers and what it means for these critical members of the Hastings schools’ team but have yet to see enough movement from district leaders,” according to the union statement.

One parent, Jessie Nowak, was given the opportunity to speak on the steps of City Hall with the food service workers around her.

“Here in Hastings, we know that strong schools create strong communities, but strong schools are more than just an amazing school board. Fabulous teachers, test scores and extracurricular activities. Strong schools respect and admire their administrative staff. Strong schools hire and train paraprofessionals and school counselors. Strong schools appreciate and honor their custodial staff. But most of all, strong schools bring dignity to all staff by honoring fair compensation for all of their employees.”

The school district put a plan in place to make sure its food service department has adequate staffing through the strike it hoped to avert.

The school’s bargaining team met with union representatives Friday for a fourth day of mediation.

A statement from Superintendent Dr. Bob McDowell states, “In mediation, the district did not receive any new financial proposals from the union even though the parties’ previous mediation session ended with the understanding that the union would review costing data and provide a new proposal. Instead, the union chose to make a proposal that included a new item. Despite the lack of a new union proposal on wages and benefits, the district provided multiple proposals that are in line with what comparable neighboring school districts pay and that are consistent with what other District employee groups have already accepted during the current cycle of negotiations. Unfortunately, after four days of mediation, the Food Service employee group continues to pursue a wage and benefit package they have not been able to justify with comparisons to neighboring school districts or any other supporting data.”

McDowell released the following statement containing the district’s offer to the union on Monday morning: “The School Board of Hastings Public Schools met this morning for a special meeting and approved a Last, Best and Final offer to the Food Service bargaining unit represented by SEIU Local 284. The following is a summary of the key provisions outlined in the district’s final offer:

•The district is offering a two-year collective bargaining agreement effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024.

•In terms of individual impact, the district’s final offer provides substantial pay increases going as high as 31.2 percent spread over two years.

-28 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit will receive a pay increase of 20 percent or higher spread over two years.

-50 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit will receive a pay increase of 15 percent or higher spread over two years.

-75 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit will receive a pay increase of 10 percent or higher spread over two years.

-Employees hired before January 1, 2023 and making $18.32 per hour or less will see a minimum pay increase of 12.6 percent spread over two years, ranging from 12.6 percent to as high as 31.2 percent depending on the employee’s date of hire and current placement on the salary schedule.

•The district’s final offer removes the lowest three steps of the salary schedule in an effort to increase starting pay and pay for newer employees. The starting salary under the district’s proposal will increase from $13.85 per hour to $15.04 per hour in the first year of the contract. The starting salary will increase again to $15.34 per hour in the second year.

•All employees hired on or before June 30, 2022 will receive a total of $1,200 in retention payments to be split into a one-time $600 payment to be made in each year of the contract.

•Employees will not see an increase in their share of the premium contribution for single or family health insurance in year one of the contract. In year two, the district’s offer limits any increase an employee’s share of the cost of family coverage to a maximum of $15 per month.

•The district has agreed to increase the rate at which unused sick leave and essential leave is paid out by $2 per hour.

-The district has agreed to language providing employees with a contribution toward approved non-slip footwear in the amount of $150 per year.

The district’s last, best and final offer is designed to address current market conditions, as well as to increase starting pay and wages for newer employees. For more senior employees, the district’s last, best and final offer will accomplish the following:

•Top hourly pay for cooks will increase to $20.17 per hour in the first year of the agreement, which is higher than four of the six school districts Hastings Public Schools has identified as comparable school districts.

•Top hourly pay for lead elementary school cooks will increase to $28.95 per hour in the first year of the agreement. Top pay for lead elementary cooks under the 2020-2022 collective bargaining agreement already exceeded the rate of the highest comparable school district by $2.62 per hour.

•Top hourly pay for lead secondary school cooks will increase to $31.66 per hour in the first year of the agreement. Top pay for lead secondary cooks under the 2020-2022 collective bargaining agreement already exceeded the rate of the highest comparable school district by $1.67 per hour.

The District’s Last, Best and Final offer to the Food Service bargaining unit is consistent with the financial terms and conditions that were negotiated and accepted by all six other hourly groups whose contracts were up during the district’s most recent cycle of negotiations. It is important to note that the Food Service group is composed of 35 employees, all of whom only work during the school year (174 days). Five of these employees work 7 to 8 hours per day, while the majority of the employees of this group only work 2 to 5.75 hours per day.”

In response to the district’s offer, Hal Goetz, the negotiator representing the food service workers in Hastings had this to say, “They are including one time money, and we want permanent raises. This has been a big disagreement between us that we've made clear to the district many times. We want permanent raises on the salary schedule, not one-time bonuses.”

The district is saying the minimum raise will be 12.6 percent and the union is saying 2.1 percent, with the district numbers including the two $600 payments.

“This is a disagreement we've had with the district where I think what the district has said they are costing their model out as 12 percent over two years. When they gave me the same data and I ran the same numbers, I got a little over eight percent,” said Goetz.

One of the things the district has noted repeatedly is that other groups within the district have signed off on their contracts and that the contract for the food service workers is in line with the other groups.

“We are not them. We had no control over that. All we have control over is what we are willing to take, and what we think is fair for us. We do not think that they should be judged by our contracts and we don't think we should be judged by their contracts,” added Goetz.

In regards to comparing contracts with other districts, Goetz had this to say. “We've looked around, and I know because this isn't the only school district I work with. I work with plenty of other school districts. Most people this year are getting double digit 10 to 15, sometimes 20 percent packages over two years in permanent money around the state this year. There's been historic inflation. People need real raises this year. And the district is saying Well, we think that our offer is good enough and we don't.”

So, how long is the union prepared to go? “I would say we do not plan on doing any sort of intermittent strike. We're planning to strike for as long as it takes at this point,” Goetz said. “At some point, you know, people are going to vote with their feet and go other places if they keep putting a little bit on the pay scale each time. People are going to look at this pay scale after a while and say that it's not competitive. This district thinks ‘we're good compared to everybody else.’ Why just try to be in the middle of the pack? Why shouldn't Hastings public schools be a model employer? Why shouldn't this be somewhere people want to come instead of looking over the river at South Washington County and thinking maybe I'll go there. We want it to be somewhere that people want to come.”

SEIU Local 284 workers held a rally on the steps of Hastings City Hall on Monday afternoon. Photo by Bruce Karnick