Issaquah School District Staff Vote To Strike Over Pay Raises

ISSAQUAH, WA - School staff and paraeducators working in the Issaquah School District voted to authorize a strike Tuesday night over cost of living pay increases, according to two local unions.

The strike, if it happens, involves office workers and paraeducators, but not teachers. The Public School Employees of Washington SEIU Local 1948 and the SEIU Local 925 members voted 98 percent and 94 percent in favor of a strike, respectively.

The unions claim that the district has not granted the workers their yearly cost of living adjustments (COLAs). But the district says it can't give COLA raises because the state did not provide funding for them in 2018-19.

"If the district doesn’t do what’s right, employees won’t be able to afford to live in their own district. The surrounding areas respect their school staff with quality wages and follow through on what was negotiated. Our staff, and most importantly our students, deserve better than this," PSE Issaquah Office Professionals Chapter Presidents Emily Freet said. Freet is also the assistant to the Maple Hills Elementary principle.

The paraeducators' 2017-2022 contract with Issaquah states COLAs shall be set by the state of Washington. But the state has not provided for a COLA in 2018 and 2019.

"[The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction] has informed the district there is no such requirement for the 2018-2019 contract year because no such funds were allocated by the state," the district said in a statement.

In the office staff contract, one section outlines a 2-1/2 percent COLA effective Sept. 1, 2018. But the contract also states that COLA raises shall be done as a "pass-through" - meaning that the raises pass through the district and are paid for out of the state budget.

Patch has reached out to the unions to get a response to the district's claims.

Before a strike happens, the unions have to elect a strike committee. The unions say the workers will stay on strike until they get the COLA raises.

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