LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Amid escalating tensions over contract negotiations between the Clark County School District and the Clark County Education Association, the district filed a response in court doubling down on its request for an injunction against the teachers' union.
The argument so far has seen CCSD ask for a court injunction against the Clark County Education Association, claiming union leaders are threatening to strike — which is prohibited for public employees under Nevada law.
Lawyers for the teachers' union, in their response to CCSD, argued the union's threats of a "work action" do not amount to threats of a strike.
In court documents filed Tuesday, the district claims the teachers' union is using the term "work action" as a guise and thereby creating its own definition of a "strike."
The law that makes striking illegal in Nevada, "is not merely a 'Don't Say Strike' law; it is a clear legislative pronouncement that strikes, and threats of strikes, are illegal, no matter how creatively they are phrased," district lawyers argued in Tuesday's filing.
The district states the court should grant a restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the union representing district educators.
This comes after a CCSD board meeting ended early last week due to disruptions from union members. Union members have also staged rallies before classes at schools throughout the valley over the past week.
HOW WE GOT HERE: A recap of the ongoing contract negotiations between the teachers' union and CCSD
The teachers' union released the following statement in response to the district's latest filing:
"We stand firm that CCSD's efforts to demand of the court an injunction against CCEA is, it its essence, a political effort to silence the voices of 18,000 front-line educators. Unfortunately for CCSD, the solution it is seeking is not with the court, but in educators' paychecks."
In its previous response to CCSD's court motion, the teachers' union outlined what its threats of a "work action" could amount to.
Clark County teachers are contractually obligated to work 7 hours and 11 minutes per day — but teachers often work "well beyond" that time period to meet with parents and students or support extra-curricular activities, union lawyers stated.
A "work action," they argued, "would mean the District gets, every day, exactly what it bargained for and what it pays for: 7 hours and 11 minutes. The District has no claim on work beyond those hours."
WHY THE DISAGREEMENT? Explaining the issue at the center of CCSD teacher salary negotiations
At the crux of the ongoing contract negotiations is the two parties' disparate views on what should be done with funding allocated in Senate Bill 231, which passed in the most recent session of the Nevada Legislature.
It earmarked $250 million for education incentives like raises across the state, and the union claims there's enough money to give teachers a 10% raise.
The problem, from the district's view, is the one-time nature of that allocation.
"It is one-time money. It is not to be used in raises," CCSD Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara told Channel 13 in a previous interview. "Whenever the money gets here, however much we get, our plan is to really compensate for the two years that we have the money."
CCSD and the teachers' union are expected to meet for more negotiations later this week, on August 17 and 18.
