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Instructional assistants form union with Local 888

December 4, 2014

Instructional Assistants at the Central Mass Special Educational Collaborative have formed a union with Local 888.

The 75 instructional assistants from five different schools located in Worcester started organizing in late April.  Using the state

[caption id="attachment_5533" align="alignright" width="300"]Instructional Assistants at the Central Mass Special Educational Collaborative have formed a union with Local 888. The 75 instructional assistants from five different schools located in Worcester started organizing in late April.  Using the state labor law that streamlines union recognition with a simple majority sign up, they filed for recognition with the Dept. of Labor Relations in October.  Throughout the organizing drive the workers realized that they could do better for themselves and their students by forming a union to create a fair and consistent work environment.  "Fair is fair. When we came together and started to talk with each other, we realized that our pay, benefits and work rules were different for different people," said Tracy Pirperis, an instructional assistant at Hartwell Learning Center. "We just want to have a union contract that makes these issues fair for all the instructional assistants." Instructional Assistants at the Central Mass Special Educational Collaborative have formed a union with Local 888.
The 75 instructional assistants from five different schools located in Worcester started organizing in late April. Using the state labor law that streamlines union recognition with a simple majority sign up, they filed for recognition with the Dept. of Labor Relations in October.
Throughout the organizing drive the workers realized that they could do better for themselves and their students by forming a union to create a fair and consistent work environment.
"Fair is fair. When we came together and started to talk with each other, we realized that our pay, benefits and work rules were different for different people," said Tracy Pirperis, an instructional assistant at Hartwell Learning Center. "We just want to have a union contract that makes these issues fair for all the instructional assistants."[/caption]

labor law that streamlines union recognition with a simple majority sign up, they filed for recognition with the Dept. of Labor Relations in October.

Throughout the organizing drive the workers realized that they could do better for themselves and their students by forming a union to create a fair and consistent work environment.

"Fair is fair. When we came together and started to talk with each other, we realized that our pay, benefits and work rules were different for different people," said Tracy Pirperis, an instructional assistant at Hartwell Learning Center. "We just want to have a union contract that makes these issues fair for all the instructional assistants."