Court delays vote on school union

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2002 | 9:30 a.m.

A Carson City judge has delayed a union vote by the Clark County School District's support employees, and the question of whether the election will take place is headed for a Las Vegas courtroom.

The Nevada Local Government Employee Management Relations Board ordered the election last week between the current union, the Education Support Employees Association, and Teamsters Local 14.

ESEA officials filed a motion for a stay of the order pending a judicial review. The request was granted, along with a motion by the board to have the matter moved to Clark County.

Commissioner James Wilkerson, who chairs the board, said he was pleased the matter would be moved to Clark County but disappointed the stay was granted.

"If it was just the change of venue, this would just be a matter of refiling and jumping on the court's calendar," Wilkerson said Tuesday. "The way it stands now, it's anyone's guess when this will actually be resolved."

The judge's decision was a victory for the ESEA, which represents about 56 percent of the district's bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and office personnel.

Joe Furtado, executive director of the ESEA, called Tuesday's ruling "a step in the right direction." Furtado said the board's decision to grant the election went against legal precedent because the Teamsters never showed they had collected membership cards from support employees.

"We believe once this is looked at by a judge, we will prevail," Furtado said. "However, we also believe we have the majority support of our membership, and we're ready for a vote if it comes to that."

The Teamsters are also ready, said organizer Kathy Naumann.

"The workers deserve the right to choose their own representatives," Naumann said. "Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later."

Some support employees have said they are fed up with the current leadership, particularly following last fall's failure of the health trust.

But some staunch supporters say the ESEA has been effectively rebuilding and deserves to continue representing the workers.