Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Education, union rights at center of rally

Las Vegas event one of hundreds across the country on Monday

Rally for Education

Steve Marcus

Protesters attend a rally against proposed budget cuts to education at the College of Southern Nevada, Charleston campus Monday, April 4, 2011.

Education, Union Rights Rally

Protesters attend a rally against proposed budget cuts to education at the College of Southern Nevada, Charleston campus Monday, April 4, 2011.  Launch slideshow »

Education, Union Rally

KSNV coverage of a rally at the College of Southern Nevada, April 4, 11 p.m. newscast.

It was a motley group of about 500 activists from unions across the valley that gathered under the late afternoon sun Monday to protest budget cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

From steelworkers and boilermakers to firefighters and elevator construction workers, they assembled in a parking lot at the College of Southern Nevada’s Charleston campus, waving signs and chanting slogans.

Despite their different backgrounds, the union activists who gathered for the national “We are One, Respect our Rights” rally held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a cohesive message: stop education cuts and save collective bargaining.

“We cannot turn back the clock by cutting education,” said former Rep. Dina Titus, a UNLV professor. “Do not let them bargain away our education and the future of this country.”

Many of the speakers – including representatives from the Service Employees International Union, politicians and community organizers – mentioned King in their speeches.

Monday marked the 43rd anniversary of King’s assassination. He was shot April 4, 1968, during a trip to Memphis, Tenn., to support workers’ rights. The Las Vegas event was one of hundreds Monday night across the country.

“Dr. King had a dream … and he knew the key to that dream was through education,” Titus said, calling the recent proposed budget cuts an “unraveling” of that dream.

J.T. Creedon, the student body president at CSN, was among the 1,500 students who descended upon Carson City last month to protest education cuts. During the protests, the 28-year-old political science and history major met with Sandoval to discuss $26.7 million in proposed cuts to CSN.

Creedon said he felt he wasn’t taken seriously.

“I’m a student. I’m a Nevadan. I’m a taxpayer. I’m a voter,” Creedon said to cheers from the crowd.

Budget cuts from previous years have hurt CSN students, Creedon said. This semester, he claimed thousands of students couldn’t get into classes “because their names were in the wrong part of the alphabet.”

Sandoval has proposed a series of cuts in the face of a state budget shortfall expected to top $2 billion, but the governor is against raising taxes, saying such a move would further damage an already fragile economy.

Click to enlarge photo

J.T. Creedon, center, College of Southern Nevada student body president, speaks during a rally protesting proposed budget cuts to education at the CSN, Charleston campus Monday, April 4, 2011. Randy Soltero. a member of the Sheet Metal Workers union, Local 88, is at right.

Although education was the major issue at the rally, most union members showed up to support collective bargaining rights in states from Wisconsin to Nevada.

Many of the activists wore badges with the number 288, which represented the Nevada Revised Statute outlining collective bargaining rights of workers.

They argued several bills in the Legislature would push the state in the direction of stripping union members of their collective bargaining rights.

“Fix the tax system so we’re not facing this budget crisis again next year and the following year,” said Kathy Wilson, the interim director of the Clark County Education Association teachers’ union.

Wilson has worked in arbitration and bargaining for 21 years with CCEA. With a possible $411 million budget cut looming over the Clark County School District, Wilson said she’s worried about her teacher constituents.

On Friday, CCSD officials began sending notices to teachers about staffing changes. More notices about potential layoffs – upwards of 2,500 positions – are expected by April 29, officials said.

For Jack Smith, a 63-year-old school counselor at Sheila Tarr and Edith Garehime elementary schools, the budget crisis is the worst he has seen during his 29-year career with CCSD.

“It’s a mistake to take vast amounts of money from education,” he said. “And I don’t just say that because I work in education. It’s our future.

“I’m retiring, but as a citizen, this is important to me,” he said. “This is what America was built on.”

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