The Yonkers Board of Education held a special meeting on August 26, and approved the furlough of 414 bus monitors for a period of five weeks, until October 5. The bus monitors, members of CSEA Local 9169, were disappointed, to say the least by the decision.
Dulani Turner, President of Local 9169 responded to the cuts in a letter to his members which reads, “Good afternoon CSEA 9169 sisters and brothers, last night the YPS Board of Trustees decided to furlough over 400 Bus Monitors from August 30th, 2020 to October 5th, 2020. This news was very disappointing and heartbreaking to hear. Our Bus Monitors are close to minimum wage workers but are charged with one of the most important jobs of transporting our children ages 4 and up. They make sure our children are safe, in good spirits, and fed every morning and afternoon.
“This is very troublesome that 400 employees who travel to work in all weather conditions some by car, others by public transportation at 5AM in the morning, will now have to file for unemployment and possibly lose Health and Dental benefits because the BOE couldn’t keep them on payroll for 3-4 weeks. The same Bus Monitors who protected and fed our students until 12AM during a Ice Storm two years ago. It would only cost $350,000 to remain on payroll, on a budget that was approved to pay our Bus Monitors from Sept 20- June 21.
“CSEA Officers had offered ways to keep our Bus Monitors active and on payroll by offering trainings for employees to attend, help out at District Office, but it obviously fell upon deaf ears. CSEA is very understanding of the lack of funding the BOE receives from the NYS and the 20% reduction by the Governor made to this year’s budget. We understand layoffs and furloughs have been happening all over this country during the Pandemic. It is still tragic and pathetic that over 400 families are now being told to figure it out when it comes to their rent being paid, putting food on their table, and taking care of their families.
“We will continue these discussions with the BOE and the City of Yonkers for something to be done, because this cannot stand. We must fight and find ways to express our displeasure. This is not a new normal our families should have to deal with. Please contact your City Council, BOE Trustees, Superintendent, and Mayor, let them know they must find a better solution than the one they made,” writes Turner.
We also spoke with Turner, who said he has been in contact with Mayor Mike Spano, Council President Mike Khader, and YPS Superintedent Dr. Edwin Quezada, but with no resolution so far. “With everything that goes on in this city you can’t say to me that you can’t find $325,000 to save thsese jobs for just a month? Our members will go through training or help out in the district office
“They are the lowest paid employees who have already pushed back their Con Ed bill and phone bill, and are worried about getting evicted. Someone needs to figure a way to keep them from getting furloughed, ” said Turner to Yonkers
Local CSEA -YPS employees are not paid in the summer, so their last pay check was at the end of June. Their credit union also cannot give them loans because nobody knows if they will return for sure in October. They also cannot collect unemployment for the five weeks lost time, and others also hold jobs as food service workers and school aides.
CSEA employees in the Yonkers Public Schools earn on average between $35,000-$40,000 per year, and that is by working two jobs in the YPS; one as a bus monitor and the other job as a food service worker or school aide.
There are mixed views over these cuts in Yonkers. Some don’t want the lowest paid employees to get cut, “in a City and schools budget that has thousands of employees making more than $100,000 per year,” as one official told Yonkers Rising.
Others told us, “they aren’t working because there are no buses until the students come back, and we have to start somewhere.”
We will report back when and if changes are made to the furloughs.
