This Labor Day, let’s end the long nightmare at CCSD

I grew up with the understanding that if you work hard and play by the rules, you’ll be rewarded with a good-paying job; or, at the very least, earn enough to provide for your family. These are the values I used to believe in — not the “American Dream,” simply the American promise.

Sadly, my faith has been tested in recent years. Since becoming a teaching assistant, I’ve been living a dream wrapped inside a nightmare. I love the work, but the job itself has tested my limits. After 13 years employed by the Clark County School District, pay cuts and rising health care costs have driven my family to the breaking point.

Despite working full time for the district, my two young daughters and I recently found ourselves living out of the family car. I had just been forced to file for bankruptcy due to insufficient wages, putting the night classes for my teaching license on hold.

There was little hope, but I never gave up on my dream to teach. My girls gave me strength. Together, we struggled and sacrificed, scraping to get by. Although we are no longer homeless, we are still far from living in safe or secure housing — bullets fly constantly outside our home and rent is on the rise.

Don’t ask me how I am raising two kids making under $20,000 a year, because I honestly couldn’t tell you.

But I am not alone. There are more than 12,000 other overworked, underpaid and underappreciated men and women facing the same situation on district support staff — school bus drivers, cafeteria and office workers, security guards, teachers’ assistants, custodians, maintenance and grounds staff (and basically anybody who is not an administrator or a teacher). My co-workers are also a source of strength during these trying times. Together, we are fighting for a voice on the job: real union representation that can bring us a fair and decent wage.

The Teamsters are that voice. They have stood beside us from the beginning, and we desperately need their help. But the injustice is so rampant that even our demands for new representation go unheard. After three elections voting overwhelmingly for Teamsters Local 14, we remain victims of the apathy and ineffectiveness of our current representative — an association that fights to keep collecting our dues money but fails to fight for us.

This summer, our greatest fears were realized when the school district rolled out their reorganization plan, increasing the possibility of outsourcing support staff jobs. All the while, we are still facing inadequate wages and constant concessions without a union voice. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, we recently received notice that our health care costs will soon soar to its highest rate yet.

Reorganization will not solve the years of concessions, nor will it bring support staff the wages and security they need to make a living. Recognizing our organizing efforts with the Teamsters, however, would be a much-needed step forward.

Until the Teamsters can negotiate a contract that looks out for support staff, more than 12,000 working families will continue to suffer. This Labor Day, it’s time to take a step forward and begin the process of ending our long nightmare at the Clark County School District.

Nettie Leonard writes from Las Vegas.