History of Washington teacher strikes

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NEWS ADVISORY

September 22, 2003

Updated 4/7/04

History of Washington teacher strikes

The Washington Education Association (WEA)—defending current teacher strikes—has stated that the legality of the strikes is unclear. The record may help clarify the issue.

The state Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) has record of 84 teacher strikes in Washington. Court injunctions have been granted in 24 of 29 cases in which they were sought to end the strikes.* In one case, union officials were jailed.

In three of the five cases in which injunctions were not granted, the court took other corrective action or teachers settled before a ruling could be made. In the remaining two cases, injunctions were denied—in one case because the school district was holding classes with replacement teachers, and in the other because the court believed there was bad faith in bargaining (in this case the court took other corrective action).

The most recent court ruling came last year when the Issaquah School District sought an injunction to end a three-week strike. King County Superior Court Judge Joan Dubuque granted the injunction and stated clearly: " . . . teachers do not have the right to strike, and what is going on is an illegal strike at this time."

Following is a history of the strikes PERC has record of in Washington state (injunctions in bold):

Year	School District	Strike Length	Court Action?	Outcome
1972	Aberdeen	3 days	Yes	Injunction
1973	Evergreen	10 days	Yes	Injunction; Union leaders jailed 45 days
1973	Elma	6 days	No	Replacement teachers used
1973	Edmonds	1 day	Yes	Injunction
1974	Mead	8 days	Yes	Injunction; schools remained open
1974	Yelm	1 day	No	Schools remained open
1974	Goldendale	1 day	Yes	Injunction
1974	Central Kitsap	1 day	No	Planned 1 day walkout
1974	Kelso	2 days	No	Strike ended before court hearing; schools remained open
1974	Federal Way	19 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction; schools remained open
1974	Tacoma	12 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction; schools opened 1 day with replacements
1974	Mukilteo	2 days	Yes	Court ordered delay of school year
1975	Clover Park	13 days	Yes	Court appointed special master
1975	West Valley	12 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1975	South Kitsap (lockout)	3 days	No	School year delayed
1976	Evergreen (lockout)	5 days	No	School year delayed
1976	Everett	5 days	Yes	Injunction
1976	Seattle	12 days	Yes	Injunction
1977	Sunnyside	1 day	No	Teachers staged sit-in
1977	Renton	1 day	No	N/A
1977	Bainbridge Island	4 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1977	Central Valley	6 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1977	Methow Valley	6 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1977	Ellensburg	1 day	No	N/A
1977	Granger	2 days	No	N/A
1977	Omak	6 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1977	Aberdeen	7 days	Yes	Injunction
1978	Leavenworth	23 days	Yes	Injunction; Schools remained open
1978	Raymond	2 days	No	N/A
1978	Tacoma	29 days	Yes	Injunction
1978	Central Kitsap	5 days	Yes	No injunction issued; Schools opened with replacements
1978	Riverview	1 day	No	N/A
1978	University Place	14 days	No	N/A
1978	Seattle	21 days	Yes	Injunction
1978	Everett	13 days	Yes	Injunction
1978	Oak Harbor	4 days	No	N/A
1978	Lake Washington	2 days	No	N/A
1979	Northshore	1 day	No	N/A
1979	West Valley	9 days	No	Schools remained open
1979	Pasco	13 days	Yes	Court delayed ruling; Schools opened with replacements
1979	Spokane	23 days	Yes	Unknown (no comment on whether injunction was issued)
1979	Renton (lockout)	4 days	No	N/A
1980	Riverview	7 days	No	Schools opened with replacements
1980	Castle Rock	3 days	No	N/A
1980	Bellevue	20 days	No	N/A
1980	Auburn	4 days	No	N/A
1981	Richland	1 day	No	N/A
1981	Evergreen (strike + lockout)	12 days	No	Lockout for 1 week then the strike
1982	Steilacoom	0.5 day	No	N/A
1983	Steilacoom	1 day	No	N/A
1983	Cheney	17 days	No	Schools opened with replacements
1983	Stanwood	12 days	No	Schools opened with replacements
1983	Clover Park	21 days	Yes	Injunction
1983	Snoqualmie Valley	3 days	No	Schools remained open
1983	Renton	6 days	No	N/A
1983	Highline	1 day	No	N/A
1983	Sunnyside	5 days	No	N/A
1984	Longivew	2 days	No	N/A
1985	Seattle	24 days	No	N/A
1986	Steilacoom	15 days	No	N/A
1986	North Kitsap	5 days	No	N/A
1987	Edmonds	29 days	Yes	Settled on day of court injunction hearing
1987	Renton	8 days	No	N/A
1989	Moses Lake (lockout)	2 days	No	N/A
1989	Bellingham	12 days	No	N/A
1990	Lake Washington	10 days	No	N/A
1990	University Place	8 days	No	N/A
1990	Castle Rock	1 day	No	N/A
1990	Mukilteo	32 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1990	Yakima	1 day	Yes	Injunction
1992	Kennewick	2 days	No	N/A
1992	Pateros	6 days	No	N/A
1993	Soap Lake	8 days	No	N/A
1994	Bremerton	16 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1994	Federal Way	6 days	No	N/A
1994	Concrete	18 days	No	N/A
1995	Fife	37 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers defied injunction
1998	Lake Stevens	13 days	No	N/A
2001	Prosser	1 day	No	N/A
2001	Hoquiam	14 days	No	N/A
2002	Issaquah	20 days	Yes	Injunction; Teachers voted to defy injunction but settled prior to first contempt
2002	Snohomish	21 days	No	N/A
2003	Lake Stevens	14 days	No	N/A
2003	Marysville	49 days	Yes	Injunction

Source: Public Employment Relations Commission

* PERC is still researching one cases to determine whether or not injunction was issued and what actions occurred; 1979-Spokane.

Contact: Marsha Richards | Communications Director | 360.956.3482

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Evergreen Freedom Foundation
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Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874
Email: effwa@effwa.org

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