PROVIDENCE — Groden Center behavioral specialists, members of District 1199 SEIU New England, plan an informational picket at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the school’s 86 Mt. Hope Ave. location to call attention to what they describe as high turnover detrimental to students with Autism at the center and unfairly low wages.
The Groden Network, founded in 1976, is a non-profit school providing support and services to children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities and behavioral challenges, helping them lead productive lives. The organization runs the Groden Center with three locations including the 86 Mt. Hope Ave. school and sites in Coventry and Pawtucket; The Cove Center Inc. for adults on Manton Avenue in Providence; and The Halcyon Center residential programs in Attleboro.
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Consistency is a cornerstone of the education and well-being of children with Autism, said Emmanuel Falck, spokesman for District 1199 SEIU New England, which represents 29,000 health care workers in Rhode Island and Connecticut, including about 60 behavioral specialists.
Falck said the employees work closely with students with Autism at the school, gaining the trust and confidence of the children, sometimes getting hit in the process.
“It’s very tough work,” Falck said, “They have the trust and the confidence of the kids.”
Groden Network CEO Laurie Vinkavich-Cole said there are 640 employees at the center. She described the employees represented by the union as direct support staff and two clerical staffers.
Vinkavich-Cole said she would leave the details of the talks to the members of the respective parties’ negotiation teams. The Groden network’s negotiation team is comprised of staff at the organization, but she is not on the team, she said.
“We have been and continue to bargain in good faith,” Vinkavich-Cole said on behalf of the negotiators.
Falck said constant turn-over and use of temporary staff at the school deprives students of a quality education and results in daily injuries and unsafe situations for students and staff. The turnover problem, Falck said, is a result of low wages and upside-down management priorities. While behavior specialists start at just $11.70 per hour at the Center, or $21,294 per year, managers make six-figure salaries and Groden has given out million-dollar retirement packages.
Falck said turnover often leads to temporary workers being called in to work with the children, sometimes at a higher pay rate than the permanent employees.
“People are fed up,” Falck said.
Vinkavich-Cole said the Groden Center is also committed to mitigating turnover. She declined to comment on Falck’s criticism of wages paid to employees.
The planned picket comes shortly after a report by WPRI-TV CBS 12 on nonprofits’ vehicles on tax-free rolls that showed a 2015 Audi A3 owned by the center, assigned to the CEO, among those on the list. Vinkavich-Cole said she is new to the CEO role, has never driven the car, and that the Groden Network is selling the vehicle.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
