Seattle Teachers Threaten an Illegal Strike
The Seattle Education Association, representing some 6,000 teachers and other staff, voted 91% to strike if they don’t reach an agreement with the district before school starts. The union is demanding higher pay—1% to 3% raises for teachers, and 3% to 5% for so-called classified staff such as paraprofessionals, on top of cost-of-living increases, reports the Seattle Times.
Not that teachers are underpaid. According to union data reported by the Times, full-time Seattle Public Schools teachers make on average $117,000, while classified staff earn $67,858. The union is also demanding smaller class sizes and more staff for special education.
All of this is as the district is trying to close an $87 million budget shortfall. It has had to pillage its reserve funds in recent years, and on Wednesday the school board adopted a budget that cuts administrative staff and some school employees. That’s a needed corrective, but district finances are still in trouble, and the union demands won’t help.
Washington law doesn’t give public employees a right to strike. State courts have deemed such strikes illegal, and courts have sometimes enjoined public union strikes. But there are no penalties set by law, and unions have found they can get away with it.
That includes Seattle teachers, who delayed school for five days with a strike in 2022. They scored hefty pay raises in their three-year bargaining agreement—7% for the first year of the contract, followed by 4%, then 3%. Last year other Washington school district unions went on strike, including custodians and other staff in Evergreen Public Schools. After more than two weeks on the picket line, the union received raises of as much as 13.5% over three years, and avoided legal trouble.
