Teamsters eye county teachers union

A union that claims to have the support of thousands of teachers is expected to announce today that it will challenge another union to represent Clark County School District instructors.

Gary Mauger, secretary treasurer and chief executive officer of Teamsters Local 14, wouldn’t say what officials with his union will announce, but he did say it will “have a huge impact on labor in this valley.”

John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association teachers union that represents more than 13,000 teachers in Southern Nevada, said he expects the challenge from the Teamsters to be made official.

Jasonek said the Teamsters have been trying to get teachers to drop their memberships with his union.

“It’s unfortunate that another union would be encouraging people to drop their protection,” Jasonek said. “It shows they’re disingenuous and simply cannibalistic in their approach.”

Ron Taylor, a technology consultant for the Teamsters and a computer science teacher at the High Desert Prison in Indian Springs, said the Teamsters are mobilizing.

“We’re already taking pledge cards.”

Like Mauger, Taylor wouldn’t say what the big announcement will be. But he did express dissatisfaction with the teacher shortage in Clark County, and he said the Clark County Education Association doesn’t have the best interests of teachers in mind.

It isn’t the first time the Teamsters have tried to oust an incumbent union in the school district. In May 2006, it received 779 more votes than the Education Support Employees Association union that represents support staff in the school system. But a state law requires that the winner of an election receive 50 percent plus one of all eligible voters. There are more than 10,000 support staff employees in the district and the Teamsters needed to gain 5,259 votes in order to win the election.

The law applies to public bargaining units.

The law would also apply if the Teamsters wanted to challenge the Clark County Education Association. To beat out that union in an election, the Teamsters would have to gain about 9,000 of the more than 18,000 votes from licensed teachers in the district.

When Mauger was asked whether the Teamsters could get those votes, he said, “Without a doubt.”