On September 19, teachers in the Columbus suburb of Reynoldsburg went out on strike for the first time since 1978. They started the school year without a contract in place, and neither two-party negotiations nor third-party mediation led to a breakthrough.
The initial contract offer from the district included a couple of notions that were thought by outside commentators to be problematic, including performance-based pay for teachers and the elimination of health care coverage in favor of a cash payment that teachers could use to buy their own coverage. As divisive as those issues could have been, they were actually pretty well hammered out before the walkout. The sticking point turned out to be a hard cap on class sizes.
With little movement on either side on this issue—and after dueling unfair labor practice charges were filed—the strike began. Day One was rough, but by the end of the first full week the feared “spillover” effects of the strike were not seen at Friday night’s big football game. But those Day One stories moved one district parent to sue to close the schools for the duration of the strike, citing concerns for student safety.
However, the Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge receiving the expedited case had a trick up his sleeve. Rather than ruling immediately, he ordered all parties into mandatory mediation behind closed doors and under a gag order. So what was the trick? While the judge couldn’t force the groups to negotiate the contract, he could sit them down without the constant media hype to talk about the school safety case at hand. And if they happened to work out the contract at the same time, all the better for everyone involved.
And so it was that during a media blackout and mediated sessions that a new contract was signed after teachers had spent fifteen days on the picket lines.
A couple of issues remained on the other side of the return to work; we’ll leave to others to determine if there was a “winner” or a “loser” in the battle, but certainly it was difficult for us to watch this play out in a district whose innovations we have championed. Even worse, it may not be the last labor dispute to hit Ohio schools this year.
