Tacoma School District attorneys this morning filed suit against those it holds responsible for the first public school teachers strike in the city since 1978.
The legal action, filed shortly after 11 a.m., names the leaders of the union including Tacoma Education Association President Andy Coons, members of the union's executive board and those serving on the bargaining committee.
In addition to the lawsuit, which the defendants have 20 days to respond to, the district also sought an injunction to order the teachers represented by TEA back to work. The defendants will be served with notice of the lawsuit, and a hearing on the injunction is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday in front of Judge Bryan Chushcoff.
“Under the law and public policy of the state of Washington, public employees such as teachers and other educational personnel are prohibited from striking or refusing to perform the official duties for which they are employed,” stated the complaint filed by district attorney Shannon McMinimee. The district also claims that all striking employees are still under contract and are in violation of that contract. While the three-year contract expired Aug. 31, teachers have been working under that contract which can stay in effect by mutual consent.
The declaration goes on to assert that the union made strike preparations while the district was engaging in good faith negotiations. It then states the harm that will come to the district if the strike is allowed to continue.
“Because of the strike, the district cannot fulfill its statutory obligation to provide education for its students and to operate schools as required by state law and regulation,” the declaration states. It talks about harm to its own special needs students, to 45 special needs students from other districts that it contracts to educate, to parents having to arrange child care, to students who depend on school breakfast and lunch programs, and to non-TEA employees who will not be working.
In the request for a court order, it asks the court to restrain the named defendants and all those affiliated with the union from engaging in a work stoppage, “coercing” others to engage in a work stoppage, interfering with people entering school buildings are making unjustified use of sick leave or personal leave in furtherance of a strike.
In her request for injunction, McMinimee asserts that courts have repeatedly ruled that teacher strikes are illegal and ordered them to end.
“The Pierce County Superior has ruled on three occasions that strikes by non-supervisory certificated staff are illegal,” the request stated, “in 1995 with respect to teachers in the Fife School District, 1983 with respect to teachers in the Clover Park School District, and in 1978 with respect to the Tacoma School District.
"Most recently, the King County Superior Court ordered the teachers of the Kent School District to return to work after engaging in an illegal strike in 2009.”
"The district is doing everything it can to get its staff back to work, McMinimee said outside the courtroom this afternoon. The teachers "are engaging in an illegal strike. From what I understand, the teaching union has refused to negotiate since Saturday. Letting that go on longer is not going to do anyone any good."
McMinimee said the district is hoping for a decision Wednesday from the judge.
Rich Wood, a spokesman for the Washington Education Association who is helping the Tacoma union, said union lawyers will be prepared to make a legal response in court Wednesday.
"We think it's a shame the Tacoma Public Schools administration and the Tacoma School Board would rather drag their teachers to court than negotiate a fair contract settlement," Wood said. "The administration filed court papers before even attempting to schedule another bargaining session. It's extremely disappointing, and it proves what Tacoma teachers have been saying for months: The Tacoma School Board has no intention of bargaining in good faith and negotiating a fair contract."
Wood has this response to the attempt to get a court to order an end to the strike: "Tacoma teachers care about their students, and they will decide when to end this strike."
As of midday Tuesday, there were no negotiations scheduled, Wood said.
Staff writers Adam Lynn and Debbie Cafazzo contributed to this report.
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