Last month, the Pasco school board approved a resolution that banned striking workers on school grounds and gave the superintendent authority to pursue legal action against illegal strikes last month. The superintendent took full advantage of that authority when the Pasco teachers’ union launched an illegal strike last week.
On Friday, Franklin County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom granted a request made by the Pasco School District for a preliminary injunction to end the illegal teachers’ strike that began September 1. The district argued the truth. Teachers’ strikes are illegal under state law. And, strikes inflict undue harm on students and the community.
Effectively, the judge ordered the Pasco teachers’ union to end its strike. Though he “declined to specify what fines the union could face if the strike continued,” the judge did say he would consider levy sanctions if his order is disobeyed.
Well, today, the teachers’ union disobeyed the judge’s order. Teachers did not return to work, leaving students and working families wondering when schools will start as the illegal strike enters the second week.
According to the Yakima Herald, the union was not “satisfied with a three-year proposal, released Monday, that the district said would give teachers a 10-percent raise over three years, including 3.5 percent in the 2015-16 school year, according to figures on the district’s website.” The district also proposed allocating “$3 million for curriculum adoption in the 2015-16 school year and at least $2.9 million the second year.” The union refused the terms and, on Monday, voted to continue its illegal strike.
Judge Ekstrom is scheduled to review the union’s compliance to his order today.
