11,000 workers vote to join Teamsters….with a little help from Canvasser SOS

CCSD support employees vote to switch unions to Teamsters

LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) — Support staff workers for the Clark County School District have voted to switch union representation.

More than 11,000 workers voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters Union, the Employee-Management Relations Board announced Saturday.

Nearly 82 percent of those voting approved to join Teamsters Local 14. The staffers had been represented by the Education Support Employees Association.

The unit is made up of a wide range of support workers, including clerical, custodial, maintenance, school bus and cafeteria workers who maintain and operate America’s fifth-largest school district.

“This is a historic day,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “These determined school workers stood strong to win this free and fair election. Today, their hard work has finally paid off. On behalf of the 1.4 million Teamster members, I want to congratulate them on joining the growing movement of public service workers nationwide seeking Teamster power.”

Support staff already voted overwhelmingly in favor of Local 14 representation, in a vote tabulated Feb. 3 this year and in 2006. Despite democratically voting to join the Teamsters, both elections required a supermajority rule (50-percent-plus-1 of all eligible voters) for Local 14 to obtain certification. Following the election in February, however, hundreds of support staff took their case to the EMRB to win a fair election.

“This is what democracy looks like,” said Carlos Pinto, a head custodian at CCSD who spoke on behalf of the unit following the vote count. “We, the workers, brought change. It’s hard to express how meaningful this victory is for us. We couldn’t be prouder.”

Speaking on behalf of Local 14, Secretary-Treasurer Larry Griffith thanked the workers for their dedication over the years, crediting the worker-led organizing committee for bringing change to CCSD.

“Workers at CCSD have done what many have called the impossible,” Griffith said. “We will continue to stand in solidarity and unity with everyone at CCSD as we address a decades-worth of concerns.”