LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — For months, the Clark County Education Association has been rallying for a new contract.
But in September, contract negotiations between CCEA and Clark County School District entered into arbitration. It’s the fourth time in twelve years that’s happened.
A REPEAT? CCEA was last in arbitration in 2018, and that took 18 months. Will that happen again this year?
CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita said it’s time for change.
“Every time we’ve gone to arbitration, that takes anywhere from ten months to a year and a half for resolution,” Vellardita said. “The system is outdated. The system is broken. We are now in the third month of this nine-month school year. By the time we get a decision through arbitration, the school year will be over.”
On Monday, CCEA filed a lawsuit against the state and CCSD. The lawsuit alleges the ’no-strike’ statute in state law is unconstitutional. The law was passed back in 1969. The law prohibits public employees in the state from striking.
It’s been more than 50 years since the law passed, but Vellardita said contract negotiations this time around were the final straw.
PREVIOUS: Teachers' union announces plans to challenge state law preventing teachers from striking
“The three arbitrations we’ve had in the last decade with the school district for a contract, what was common was the district didn’t have a lot of money,” he said. “What’s different this time is money isn’t the issue. There was a historic amount, almost $2.6 billion, that was invested in this two-year budget.”
Dr. Bradley Marianno, an associate professor of educational policy and leadership at UNLV, said it could be a lengthy and complicated process to try and overturn this state law.
“I think this is an uphill battle for CCEA,” Marianno said. “They’re fighting against 54 years of legal precedent in the state of Nevada. Also, only 13 states in the United States allow teachers to strike. So they’re also fighting against a national precedent that has typically not allowed teachers to engage in work stoppages.”
Besides the law, there is language in the current collective bargaining agreement that prohibits teachers from striking.
Article 23 of the agreement says, “It is hereby agreed by the Association that there will be no strikes, stoppages of work or slowdown of the operations of the School District during the term of this agreement.”
Vellardita said if the courts side with the teachers’ union, this will supersede language in the agreement.
“If we got a court decision saying that the law that prohibits the right to strike is unconstitutional and you constitutionally have the right to exercise that, that would be the determining position,” said Vellardita.
Right now, the union is still committed to proceeding with arbitration, according to Vellardita.
“We are starting the arbitration process,” said Vellardita. “We are committed to working through what the law says binding arbitration. But if there is a decision rendered by the court that essentially says what’s under the statute is unconstitutional, and teachers have the right to strike, we’re going to go back to our members, and we’re going to ask them, ‘do you want to exercise that right?’”
Teachers like Leonard Lither said contract negotiations have negatively impacted the district.
13 INVESTIGATES: Clark County School District, teachers union have long history of contract controversy
“The contract negotiations have broken morale for many teachers,” said Lither. “Teachers are quitting. Why would any teacher come to this district right now? We don’t have a contract, and who knows when we’ll get one.”
CCSD told Channel 13 in a statement: “We are aware of and evaluating the complaint filed by CCEA against the State of Nevada and CCSD.”
The district has also said its latest offer could increase educator pay by 17.4 percent, but Vellardita said this number is misleading.
“We view it as a PR stunt,” said Vellardita. “First off, educators took a 1.875 percent pay cut at the start of this school year. So that nine percent is really around 7 percent in the first year. Then the second year, all they’re offering is 3.3 percent. The rest of that money they’re putting into the second year is one-time money, in their opinion. They’re asking teachers to give back over 5 percent.”
If the CCEA were to strike, Vellardita said the union would make arrangements to keep families in the loop. A hearing date on the new lawsuit has not yet been scheduled.
An arbitrator has been selected on Monday. Vellardita said the union has asked the arbitrator to start hearings before January 1.
“That arbitrator has to get back to us to let us know whether or not that kind of timeline they're available for,” said Vellardita. “If they're not available for that, we're going to move on to try to find another arbitrator.”
Keep up to date on the arbitration process and the Clark County Education Association lawsuit at ktnv.com/education.
