Bongo is hearing rumblings that the teachers are getting together on Thursday and that a strike might start as soon as Monday of next week. This information is coming from several teachers who say they're going to the meeting.
One thing that no human has touched on yet is how an HEA strike would affect the hundreds of District 158 employees who work nine months per year on an hourly basis. This dedicated group of employees includes classroom aids, bus drivers, cooks and others who serve the kids in important ways other than teaching.
Why does Bongo bring this up? Because Bongo would bet his right front paw that the HEA leadership has not told its members how a strike would impact hundreds of employees who are getting no say at all as to whether or not they’ll be getting paid in the coming weeks.
Yup, if the HEA strikes, these hourly employees will be out of work too. But there won’t be any interest free loans for these people. And if the days are not made up, the hourly employees will be out that income forever.
It doesn’t seem very fair, does it? Why should the teachers, who are being fed incomplete and inaccurate information by their leadership, get to vote on whether the cooks, aids and bus drivers get to receive their paychecks in the coming weeks? What about the volunteer coordinator? What about the building secretaries who only work when school is in session?
If a vote is to be taken on Thursday, Bongo hopes the teachers think long and hard about the consequences their actions will have on the non-teaching professionals who don't deserve to be put on an involuntary unpaid leave.
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