District Court Judge Jessica Peterson, shown during a hearing at the Regional Justice Center Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, is being asked by the Clark County Education Association to lift the injunction she set against the teachers union to prevent further strikes. CCEA contends the union and the Clark County School District, with a new contract in hand, are at labor peace and the need for the injunction has passed.
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The Clark County Education Association wants a judge to dissolve the injunction that has been in place since September to prevent further teacher strikes now that the union and Clark County School District have a new contract.
The union filed a motion Monday asking a Clark County District judge to lift the preliminary injunction handed down Sept. 13 to halt the illegal rolling sickouts that caused eight schools to cancel one day of school each and disrupted classes at additional schools over the first two weeks of September.
“Whatever one thinks of the conduct of either of the parties here, it is clear that the storm has passed. CCEA and the Clark County School District… have agreed to a collective bargaining agreement through the statutory arbitration procedure,” the union’s motion said. “There is no current threat of work actions — either lawful or unlawful — disrupting operations of the district. As much as the two sides here can achieve and maintain labor peace, peace is at hand.”
Injunctions, the union argued, are to address ongoing or impending strikes, not to be a permanent state.
The motion noted that dissolving the injunction would have no bearing on the related appeal pending before the Nevada Supreme Court, as the appeal questions whether the injunction was “lawfully issued.”
District Judge Jessica Peterson set a hearing on the injunction dissolution matter for Feb. 22.
CCSD and CCEA announced in December that an arbitrator had accepted a compromise presented by the two sides.
All teachers will get 18% raises across the board between this academic year and next. Retroactive pay dating to July will land in March. Special education teachers, plus teachers at low-income schools with the highest vacancies, will get another $5,000 starting next year.
The new contract does not have a “lookback” that would have reset currently employed teachers on a pay scale better reflecting years of experience and advanced education, although new hires will be placed on a new pay scale according to their experience and educational attainment.
The arbitrator accepted, rather than actively decided on, the agreement.
Transcripts from the final arbitration hearing, which was Dec. 20, show that arbitrator Ira Lobel reminded district and union lawyers that he had encouraged both sides to land on an agreement to avoid “last best offer.” Last-best offer arbitration, or final offer arbitration, is a dispute resolution procedure that requires an arbitrator to choose one of the parties’ final offers.
“Having been in the business for almost 50 years, I think leaving the resolution of any dispute to a third party is the worst you can do,” Lobel said.
He asked if the contract was “a good, fair, responsible agreement.” Both sides agreed.
“When you both agree, one doesn’t win, one doesn’t lose,” Lobel said. “You both are satisfied with the result. That’s the most important thing in any kind of collective bargaining resolution.”
