DENNISON (Tusco TV) - Public records are revealing the financial impact of Claymont’s 22-day labor strike.

The district’s union-represented bus drivers, cafeteria workers, teachers aides, secretaries, and custodians were on strike from March 22nd through April 12th. Financial records indicate that during that period, Claymont paid the Michigan-based company Huffmaster more than $260,000 for crisis management services. 

Security personnel provided by the company included:

• Site Coordinator (490.6 hours at $45/hour) - $22,080.15
• Site Supervisor (533.5 hours at $34.50/hour) - $18,408
• Videographer (547.5 hours at $29.75/hour) - $16,288.13
• Strike Security Officers (1,302 hours at $24.50/hour) - $31,899
• Property Protection Officers (920 hours at $24.50) - $22,540
• Van Driver (546 hours at $28.50/hour) - $15,561
• Road Response Driver (536 hours at 28.50/hour) - $15,276
• Road Response Videographer (536 hours at 35.75/hour) - $19,162

Other security-related expenses included:

• Preparation fees - $4,275
• Consulting fees (including mileage) - $4,664
• Per diem fees - $21,420
• Telephones - $2,720
• Cameras - $7,920
• Gas & oil - $1,840.07
• Airfare (including administration, agency and baggage fees) - $19,046.58
• Lodging (including administration fees) - $27,22.68
• Vehicle rental (including administration fees) - $11,316.14

Ohio School Board Association Senior Staff Attorney Van Keating says these types of expenses aren't uncommon when school workers go on strike (even when districts don't stay open).

"Even if the school district elected to close, they would probably incur some security cost because that doesn’t mean the employees may not picket, in which case that means the school district would at least try to maintain the physical security of their various buildings and properties," he explains.

Keating says districts turn to companies like Huffmaster for their security needs when their workers go on strike because of their experience handling those types of situations.

"There’s a lot of liability and a whole bunch of reasons that you would want to use trained people in this, for the most part. At least schools, they do not employ armed security guards for these type of things. These are unarmed security guards. They have to be sort of educated at what they’re doing. Since picketing is a lawful activity, they have to understand what’s lawful in terms of the picketing, what isn’t, and how they deal with that stuff," he says.

Keating says those security teams typically include videographers so districts to document the picketing activity.

"Some of it is legal. Some of it could be illegal, and if it gets to be illegal, the school district would have to have proof in order to go down to the State Employment Relations Board in order to file a charge to get the illegal activity sort of ended," he says.

In addition to the security expenses, Claymont also paid Huffmaster nearly $71,000 for staffing services. Workers provided by the company included a site coordinator at an hourly rate of $45 per hour, seven custodians at a regular rate of $26.66 per hour and an overtime rate of just under $40 per hour. The company also helped the district recruit 23 substitute teachers aides. Those aides were paid directly by the district at a rate of $150 per day for a total of $20,250, which is not included in the Huffmaster total. 

In comparison, The union workers’ regular wages for the 16 school days of the strike would have been approximately $155,900, assuming that all 84 union employees would have worked every one of those days.* The district did not replace bus drivers, maintenance staff, and cafeteria workers.

Keating says as long as they're still meeting the minimum state requirements, districts don't have to replace every worker. 

"When you’re replacing striking employees, it’s seldom done on a one-for-one basis. There’s exceptions on that. If you have special needs children and they have in their IEP that they have to have an aide, you’re replacing that aide," he says.

Keating says many states have made illegal for public school workers to strike while school is in session but he says Ohio isn't one of them. 

"Last I looked, I think it was like seven states, and I couldn’t even tell you what they were, allow strikes and, of those, Ohio had the reputation of actually being the most unfettered system about it. Ohio says you have to give a 10-day notice, and then, at that point, you go at it," he says.

The two parties ultimately agreed on a new, three-year contract with 3 percent pay raises in the first year, 2.25 percent in the second, and 2 percent in the third for an overall payroll increase of just under $312,000.* The union had previously requested 3.5 percent raises for all three years of the contract amounting to total payroll increase of just under $426,000.* The final contract mirrors the last, best and final offer the district presented to the union the night before the strike.

Claymont officials declined an opportunity to comment on the strike expenses. 

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV

* amount calculated using payroll data for employees in the OAPSE bargaining unit at the time of the strike