This time around, it’s classified employees in Southwest Washington’s Evergreen Public Schools refusing to do work they chose and for which taxpayers pay them.
The Evergreen workers who are striking belong to a union that includes part-time paraeducators, bus drivers and other service workers who work fewer than eight hours a day, 180-190 days a year, as well as some full-time workers, such as mechanics, maintenance and information technology workers who work eight hours per day, 260 days per year. Teachers in the district support the strike action and are experiencing an extended summer break. School is closed again Wednesday, Sept. 3.
Will striking workers lose pay? Most school employees face no pay consequence for their refusal to work. A lot of us don’t get paid when we don’t work, but the state requires a 180-day school year. Workers hired for those days will still be paid for 180 days of work on a different schedule. At worst, those 180-day workers could see pay delayed by a month. The requirement means students in Evergreen Public Schools (EPS) should be getting a full school year eventually, too, even if their summer brain drain is going on longer than the school calendar planned.
Some year-round EPS workers have been placed in an awkward position. If they choose not to come to work this week, EPS says they need to use vacation or personal days.
Parents and family members could face financial hardship. Workers who are unable to work because of school strikes and the need to supply care for their children are not guaranteed full pay, as are many EPS workers.
Families build their work and child care schedules around the school calendar. That calendar should not be hijacked by a union or group of school employees. Realizing other workers are being trampled should have educators putting down their signs.
Raises not good enough, union says
The Evergreen strike began on Aug. 26, which was supposed to be the first day of school for the district. Never mind that the district has offered pay raises in addition to the state-mandated COLA increases school workers will receive, and never mind that employees could keep working until new contract agreements are made, as employees in other districts are doing. EPS has also made 35 tentative agreements since it began negotiating with Public School Employees of Washington/SEIU Local 1948 in March. School workers should also know the district reports a $26 million shortfall over the next three years, which has to guide many of its decisions.
Illegal strike
Public employee strikes are prohibited — something EPS has communicated to workers who are paying attention.
In an EPS bargaining update, a question-answer section reads, “Is a strike a legally protected action? No. Public school employee strikes are not legal in Washington.”
Court decisions and an attorney general opinion back up the prohibition. Still, school is on hold in Evergreen until these classified employees decide to work the jobs they’ve agreed to or they face a court injunction that sends employees back to work.
Janus rights
Some public workers caught up in a strike might not want to be involved in illegal activity or putting other workers, students and families in difficult positions, but because they are represented by PSE/SEIU 1948 they’re stuck. Those workers should know they have the right to join or not join a union.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME affirmed that public employees have a First Amendment right not to be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Union membership is entirely voluntary, as are dues and fees.
Can striking workers collect unemployment benefits?
Not yet. After Jan. 1, that will be allowed, given the passage of Senate Bill 5041 last legislative session. The passage of the bill means striking workers, including public employees, can apply for benefits through the unemployment insurance (UI) fund. That fund is built by employers for workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own. (Think economic downturns or COVID shutdowns.)
Having the UI fund act as a new strike fund of sorts, paid for by employers that workers strike against, could mean longer or more worker strikes, adversely impacting employers, employees, taxpayers, consumers and the state’s economy. State lawmakers should rethink the new law as soon as possible, seeing bad writing on the wall. Instead, they should encourage unions to help workers who go without pay while striking, using their treasure chests of workers' union dues.
The Employment Security Department also needs to have a plan for ensuring that public workers who strike and apply for UI benefits know that public employee strikes are illegal. And if a striking worker receives normal compensation and UI benefits, money received from the UI fund is due for repayment.
Evergreen workers who are not pleased with their pay or work conditions should be seeking new employment. Holding Washington state families hostage to pay demands is unacceptable.
