Teachers union files response to CCSD lawsuit

The Clark County Education Association filed a response Tuesday in opposition to a school district lawsuit that aims to prevent a possible future teacher strike, calling it “premature,” “misplaced” and “legally inadequate.”

The Clark County School District on July 31 filed a lawsuit seeking a court injunction against the teachers union, which represents about 18,000 licensed employees.

The union has set an Aug. 26 deadline to reach a two-year collective bargaining agreement with the district over topics such as pay, benefits and working conditions.

If there’s no agreement, union officials have said members could vote on whether to take “work actions.”

In the lawsuit filed last month in Clark County District Court, the district alleged that based on CCEA’s “threats” that “actions amounting to a strike are imminent.”

State law prohibits public employees, including teachers, from striking.

Attorneys for the union wrote in the response filed Tuesday that the court should “end this politically-driven lawsuit at the earliest possible moment.”

The union alleged the district is “aggressively trying to chill the expression and deliberation of teachers, at a crucial moment in the bargaining process, and to stir dissent among the membership.”

The response says there are already steep penalties under state law — up to $50,000 each day for a union and up to $1,000 each day for union officers — for an unlawful strike.

“Here, no strike is imminent, and there is no need for an injunction,” the union wrote.

The response also says it would be “manifestly unfair and unnecessary” to issue an injunction against the union ordering it to obey laws it hasn’t broken.

CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita said Tuesday that the union’s response is essentially saying there’s no merit and no foundation to what the district is alleging, also noting it’s “clearly a political move.”

He said CCEA believes the district is intentionally trying to undermine the union’s collective bargaining rights but noted the union is not going to be deterred.

The district also filed a petition July 31 with the state’s Employee-Management Relations Board with the aim of revoking the union’s status as a bargaining agent.

The district said in a statement Tuesday that it doesn’t take CCEA’s “threats of illegal strikes or ‘work actions’ lightly as our educators await a new contract.”

“Nevada law is crystal clear that a strike or a threat of a strike or work stoppage is unlawful and is grounds for withdrawal of recognition as the bargaining agent of a local government employee group,” the district wrote. “To protect our students and their families, we took the necessary step to ensure the ongoing operations of ensuring students receive the education they deserve.”

The district also wrote that negotiations take place at the bargaining table and not in public.

“CCEA’s continued threats do not move the parties closer to reaching a new agreement and are a disservice to the District’s students, parents, and staff,” the district wrote.

An estimated 294,000 students returned to classes Monday in the nation’s fifth-largest school district.

Contract negotiations have been underway since late March between the district and teachers union. The next bargaining sessions are Aug. 17 and 18.

A court hearing related to the district’s lawsuit is scheduled for 8 a.m. Aug. 22.

What the union is seeking

The union held protests outside planned “Java with Jara” community events last month and school-level rallies are being held starting this week. Union leaders also say that several hundred educators will be at Thursday’s School Board meeting.

Among the union’s demands: A 10 percent salary increase for all educators during the first year of a new contract and 8 percent in the second.

The district says it can’t sustain that level of an ongoing pay increase and it could lead to a budget deficit. Instead, it wants a new salary schedule.

The state legislature appropriated an additional $2 billion in public K-12 education funding for the next two years, along with $250 million for school districts for employee raises.

The district has reached collective bargaining agreements, which the School Board approved Friday, for administrators and support staff.

During the meeting, Superintendent Jesus Jara said the district is close to reaching agreements with two unions that represent police employees.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.