CCSD files to dismiss suit over teacher strike ban

Union argues state law unconstitutional, invalid

The Clark County School District filed a court motion Thursday seeking to dismiss a teachers union lawsuit that aims to overturn a longtime state ban on public employee strikes.

The Clark County Education Association — which represents more than 16,000 licensed employees — filed the lawsuit in early October in District Court against the district and state of Nevada.

The union argues that five provisions under state law related to strikes are unconstitutional and invalid.

In its latest motion, the district wrote the union’s lawsuit is “nothing more than a thinly veiled collateral attack on a valid and lawful injunction.”

“State and federal courts across the nation universally hold that public employees do not have an inherent constitutional or fundamental right to strike,” the motion states.

The Clark County Education Association and governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

In September, the district declared an impasse in its ongoing contract negotiations with the teachers union, as rolling sickouts by teachers temporarily closed eight CCSD schools.

A district judge issued a preliminary injunction against the union the next day, ordering that the mass callouts amounted to an employee strike and must end.

The union denied any involvement and filed an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court to end the injunction. Justices rejected the union’s emergency motion, and the case is pending.

Nevada’s teacher strike law has been on the books since 1969. Potential penalties include fines up to $50,000 each day for a union and up to $1,000 each day for union officers.

The stalled contract negotiations, which began in late March, are headed to arbitration. Teachers have held protests amid bargaining and some high school students have organized walkouts.