LONGVIEW — Conflict is escalating in the Longview teacher strike, as the district prepares to go to court to end the walkout and notified year-round classified employees that they are expected to report to work.
“The district has been honoring the mediation process, and will continue to have trust and faith in it, but we also want to get the school year started,” Rick Parrish, district spokesperson, said late Wednesday morning. “The disruption to parents, families, students and the community at large from this work stoppage has been significant.”
The district announced plans Wednesday morning to file a motion in Cowlitz County Superior Court to order employees back to work. Teachers are expecting an injunction by Friday, said Ray Clift, president of the teachers’ union.
Going to court has a recent precedent: The Kelso School District went to court to end a teachers strike in 2015.
Parrish said the timeline for legal action will depend on the how quickly the judge is able to issue a ruling.
“We are obviously hoping for an expeditious process. We hope to get on the judge’s calendar very quickly,” Parrish said.
The district also sent a letter to its year-round employees Tuesday to notify them that they will no longer be allowed to use vacation or personal time while out on strike. The letter applies to classified employees such as maintenance workers, custodians, grounds workers and some secretaries.
These employees are represented by the Service Employees International Union and the Longview Classified Public Education Association. Although their contracts are not under negotiation for pay raises, SEIU and LCPEA voted to strike in solidarity with the teachers’ union.
The letter said they must report to work unless are on supervisor-approved leave time.
Some of these employees had already returned to work Wednesday morning, Parrish said.
The district’s steps to end the strike are “yet another distraction from getting a settlement,” Clift said.
“Dr. Zorn is very focused on winning a strike instead of winning a settlement,” Clift said. “When he decides to win a settlement, we will be partners and get it done.”
Mediated negotiations started up again around 9 a.m. Wednesday, and the state mediator continues to propose ideas for reaching common ground.
However, the mediator’s proposals have failed to garner support from both sides, Clift said.
Despite the negotiations for pay raises, the current contract is in place until Aug. 31, 2019.
The district plans to continue the mediation process even if the court orders teachers return to work, Parrish said.
