Lars Larson is hoping Evergreen School District officials follow through and demands that workers and their unions follow the law
Lars Larson
The Northwest Nonsense
Hey, quick question: which laws do the REST of us get to break without consequences?
I’m talking about the thoroughly illegal strike by classified workers in the Evergreen public schools.
Their labor unions declared a strike and 14-hundred workers walked off the job to extort raises from the citizens and parents who get hurt by such strikes.
The school district finds itself in a financial hole, 26 million dollars short, so it made a final offer and unions rejected it.
Then the workers went on strike…a strike that BREAKS state law.
Nearly every time, school boards refuse to call out the unions for this nonsense.
On Friday, the school board approved a resolution to take legal action, go to Clark County Superior Court and demand an injunction against the union.
That’s a good start but only if the district follows through.
Usually, schools don’t properly represent the people by demanding that workers and their unions follow the law. They often cave in, pay what’s demanded, drive the district further in the red…then demand taxpayers put up more cash to pay the extortion and often pay workers for the days they DIDN’T work during the strike.
I’m crossing my fingers this time it can be different.
As the Good Book says, “if you don’t work…you don’t eat” and a little starvation might just straighten out those unions.
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This is a sad (but not unexpected) take on the issue from Lars. The pay isn’t the biggest sticking point as of the last few days, the district still is refusing to acknowledge the work that these employees do without getting paid (like coming in early to help get students off of buses, or driving empty buses back to the depot). If we want to take Lars’ last line more literally, then “if they aren’t paid for it, they won’t do it” also makes sense to me. In that case all the classified staff should do exactly what they are paid for. The district would have a lot of angry parents and community members if these union members did that. Instead they are taking a higher road and are making the right call, pointing out that they deserve to be paid for what they do.
Getting to the pay aspect for a second though, it makes no sense that many district admins are making well over $250k a year and many of these classified staff make less than 10% of that (that’s less than $25k for our math challenged readers). There is no reason that these essential workers should have to hold down 2-3 jobs just to meet the basic needs of their families. No one is asking for $100k salaries, just enough to be able to focus on the job and the kids without worrying about another 2 jobs to pay the bills. I realize that many of the people in this union don’t work a full 40 hour week and subsequently they probably wouldn’t make the same as other jobs that require more hours, but these workers deserve respect and a decent wage.
You can tell a lot about a society by looking at how they treat those who are on the bottom rungs of the ladder, and those that side with Lars are often fighting for the elites that already have all the control. Almost like they either hope to join those ranks someday, or want to garner favor with that class. We need to listen to the people on the ground, in the trenches. They are the ones that have the most information about what is actually happening. Yes they may not see the big picture, but if we talk to enough of them instead of just listening to the talking heads at the top, we can paint a much more detailed picture for ourselves, free from the bias injected by those with something to lose.
-Concerned Parent who wants the classified staff to feel appreciated and be able to focus on their jobs, not only their next meal.
Lars… usually I’m with you, but I’m gonna have to tell you that you missed the ball on this one. ESD is low-balling the classified staff. They need to pay the classified staff a fair wage for ALL hours (and minutes) worked. And what ESD is paying them, right now, is NOT a fair wage and does NOT seem to be for all the time they work.
Let’s not lose sight of a couple very salient points that really outweigh all of the varied rhetoric on this.
Point#1: This strike is illegal no matter how justified the strikers may feel.
Point #2: Evergreen students are into week #3 of missed school with no reasonable end in sight.
What worries me now is that since Evergreen has filed a complaint and requested an injunction against the SEIU, absolutely no conversations or negotiations will take place until the Court hands down a ruling. No telling how long this could now stretch out.
Shame on them all.