The law—RCW 41.56.120 — reads: “Right to strike not granted. Nothing contained in this chapter [on union collective bargaining] shall permit or grant any public employee the right to strike or refuse to perform his or her official duties.” References from: https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/public-employee-strikes-illegal-in-washington/ A formal opinion by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General in 2006 affirmed that strikes by public employees are illegal and courts consistently agree. “The state does not automatically act when a teachers union strikes, so it’s up to the school district to file an injunction with the the court to get teachers to return to work,” … [Read more...]
Washington State Teachers Pension Plan Liabilities – Healthy or Sick?
Given the teacher strikes around Washington State as we started the 2018/19 school year we thought it would be interesting to investigate the status (health) of the Washington State Retirement System (TRS) to see how well it's funded and what the public is on the hook for if there is a shortfall. Please note that the newest data we can find is through the summer of 2018 and thus does NOT include the impact of the recent double-digit salary increases. So, what we are about to present is the "best case" scenario. This review is ONLY for the teachers retirement fund. There are other retirement funds that appear to be in different financial conditions. Again, this is ONLY for the teachers TRS … [Read more...]