Classified employees should know all facts

Frontiersman editorial board

Their work often goes unnoticed. They keep things going at our schools, and they are responsible for many of the things students often take for granted. They serve lunches, keep classrooms and facilities clean and safe and they do much of the work that keeps the machinery of education running smoothly. And they may be on strike next week.

The Mat-Su Borough School District's Classified Employees Association refused to look at what the district called a "last best offer" in an ongoing contract dispute, and now it seems a labor action may be the next step in that battle. It's unfortunate.

What seems most disappointing at this point is that CEA refused to even pick the offer up off the table and look at it -- or share it with their members, for that matter. It's those members who will go on strike. It's those workers who will go without pay for as long as the strike endures, and most of them likely don't even know the details of the district's offer.

If CEA feels the offer from the district, which includes a 21-percent pay increase over three years and a 50-percent reduction in out-of-pocket health care payments for workers, would not pass muster, why didn't they at least share that offer with their members and give them an opportunity to decide? If the association was sure its members would reject the offer, why not let them do it as a show of solidarity -- and a show of good-faith bargaining practices? When there is an offer on the table, it should at least be considered before an impasse is declared.

The school district says it is prepared for the possibility of a strike. It will be inconvenient, and some services will probably suffer. The district is determined to keep the doors open and classes running. If the picket lines are drawn, however, it's likely to be give the students a few lessons they could do without. Picket lines are never pretty, and the students will be forced to attend schools in which education won't be the primary focus. As is usually the case, the students will be the voiceless victims if a strike does occur. It could still be avoided.

CEA members should demand the opportunity to at least see the district's offer before walking out. These are hard working people who have given much to Valley students. They ought to have the opportunity to know all the facts before they walk away from those students.