MILWAUKEE, Wis. — In March 2020, the world as we knew it changed forever.
"People were getting hospitalized and seriously ill. As far as our guys go, we were passing COVID onto each other cause we had to use the same tools, driving the same trucks. And then, there's taking it home to your family, you know, and putting them at risk," Tim Shaffer said.
Shaffer works in the grounds shop for Milwaukee Public Schools.
"Things like electricians, plumbers, masons, pretty much everything is done in-house," Shaffer explained.
Ryan Charles and Chris Poehlman are laborers.
"We're in and out of several buildings throughout the day. We're in contact with the public, we're in contact with people who happen to be in the building," Charles said.
"We had to go deliver PPE, face masks, sanitizer. You had to find the engineer because they had to sign forms proving that you did deliver product to the school," Poehlman added.
In April 2020, MPS tradesmen received an email from district leaders deeming them "essential workers". Meaning, they had to report to work in-person as COVID-19 spread across our communities.
"We're going to work, we're being put in this hazardous situation," Charles said.
Sacrifices these men made for themselves and their families.
"I made the decision to take my kids and send them north to stay with my parents. It was better for my kids cause I had to work and had no other place for them to go. You know, it was hard not seeing my kids for almost two months," Poehlman explained.
The tradesmen told TMJ4 if they didn't come back to work, they'd have to use their sick time.
"Do you feel like you had a choice? I know you were given a choice, but do you feel like you had a choice," Reporter Jenna Rae asked.
"I think there was a choice there, but I also think that MPS asked us to step up because we were needed," Shaffer responded.
Time card reports show these tradesmen worked full-time through the pandemic. However, it wasn't until two years later they found out other employees got additional pay.
"September 2022 is when we started getting information that engineers were paid, and then we also heard the secretaries also got paid," Charles said.
The district refers to it as "hazard pay". Employees receive double time for each hour they worked, paid for by the federal government, through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER).
An email from the district's chief human resources officer, Adria Maddaleni, said hazard pay was approved for engineers, food service assistants, safety assistants, and secretaries who were mandated to work in-person between March 18, 2020, and May 22, 2020.
"How did it make you feel that other people got paid literally double to work, and you guys did not," Rae asked.
"It was very upsetting. It was insulting," Poehlman answered.
"Yeah, that's the perfect word to use," Charles echoed.
"I guess that's what we're asking, why didn't we get paid," Shaffer chimed in.
It's a question these tradesmen have been asking the district for a year and a half now.
Charles showed us emails dating back nearly two years asking about hazard pay.
In an October 2022 response, Maddaleni said she "cannot speak to why the board did not expand hazard pay at this time to other employee groups."
Charles responded quickly, the next day, asking for further clarification.
Ten days went by and he sent another email following up and then another.
"Those emails were answered, but they weren't answered in a way that any of us felt were satisfactory. So, we just kinda kept pushing it, and it got to the point they stopped responding," Charles explained.
Then, in November 2022, all of the tradesmen got an email saying the board approved a one-time $500 hazard payment for certain employees, including them.
"We were all a little bit surprised because that's nowhere near the amounts that anyone else got paid," Charles said.
"The money is nice, but I think the bigger issue here is the fair and equal treatment of all the departments across the board. You can't just make a statement and say 'Well we're gonna call everybody back, we're gonna deem you necessary' and then systematically decide not to pay people," Charles continued.
"Why are you guys sitting here, all of you together, talking to us," Rae asked.
"We'd like some answers. We'd like to hear from MPS. If they called us essential workers, and that's what we were, and other essential workers got paid, why weren't we included in that," Shaffer said.
A question they've been asking for nearly two years now, and one I've been asking district leaders for the last month.
We've sent several emails to MPS' spokespeople requesting interviews with the district's chief financial officer, who left the job last week, and the chief human resources officer. Those are the two people who have been inconsistently responding to the tradesmen.
It's been more than a month, and we haven't been able to get an interview or any questions answered from anyone at the district.
A continued lack of transparency from the largest public school district in the state. Click here for part two.
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