SEATTLE – Public school teachers have no right to strike in Washington, but state law imposes no penalties for such walkouts, the state attorney general said this week.
Attorney General Rob McKenna clarified the issue in response to a request from state Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland, who is sponsoring a bill that would establish penalties for teachers’ strikes.
Charles Hasse, president of the Washington Education Association, respectfully disagreed with McKenna and said neither the Legislature nor state courts has ever established a definitive rule concerning teachers’ strikes.
In his opinion, McKenna mentioned several state laws prohibiting public employee strikes but Hasse, whose organization represents K-12 teachers statewide, said each of those laws specifically targets a certain kind of state employee, such as police or firefighters, and K-12 teachers have never been mentioned in anti-strike laws.
“It just seems to us that people do have a right to collectively withhold their labor in the absence of a fair agreement. The Legislature repeatedly has chosen not to directly address the issue in the law,” Hasse said Wednesday.
Nixon, who received the opinion Wednesday afternoon, said he appreciated the attorney general’s opinion because he shared the opinion that teachers should not be allowed to strike because they play such a vital role.
“We don’t let police go on strike or the firefighters … our schools are just as important to our community and our economy,” Nixon said.
Alex Bohler, a labor policy analyst with the conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation, applauded the decision, saying, “This AGO (attorney general opinion) should make it clear that when unions pressure teachers to strike, they are pressuring them to break the law.”
The last teachers’ strike in Washington was three years ago in Marysville and Hasse said he sees no strikes on the horizon. A bill similar to Nixon’s proposal was discussed in the Legislature right after the Marysville strike but did not become law. Hasse remembered similar bills being discussed about four other times over the past 30 years.
In the opinion, McKenna said the Legislature could legally outlaw teachers’ strikes and establish penalties for such actions. He added, however, that state courts already have the power to punish strikers who ignore an injunction against a strike.
McKenna cautioned against legislation that would prohibit advocating for the right to strike, on First Amendment grounds.
Nixon said he didn’t expect his strike penalty bill, HB2808, to get a hearing in the House Commerce and Labor Committee this year.
The bill would specifically prohibit strikes by educational employees and would establish maximum penalties of $10,000 for each day an employee organization does not comply with a court order not to strike.
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