In a last-ditch attempt to get teachers into classrooms for the first day of school, the Youngstown City School District has filed a complaint with the State Employment Relations Board claiming that the YEA's strike, which is set to start at midnight Wednesday, is unauthorized and therefore illegal under state labor laws.

In the filing, attached in full below, YCSD says the YEA did not allow the SERB to rule on their request for mediation before a Fact Finding Board. The lack of a Fact Finding Board mediation session, according to the YCSD filing, means that the YEA did not exhaust all applicable dispute settlement procedures before voting to go on strike, which YCSD claims is a breach of Ohio state labor laws.

"Rather than waiting for a determination by SERB on whether the parties have exhausted any applicable dispute settlement procedures, YEA chose to go on strike prior to any hearing or SERB inquiry. YEA is striking while dispute settlement procedures are still pending before SERB. That is an unauthorized strike by definition and as a matter of law. This is a problem YEA chose to create," the YCSD complaint says.

The filing, submitted to the SERB at 4:55 Tuesday afternoon, seems to be a last-ditch attempt by district officials to pull teachers off the picket line and into classrooms for the first day of school. By law, the SERB has just 72 hours to respond to the filing. 

If the SERB were to side with YCSD, the strike would be ruled unauthorized. In practice, this means the SERB would order the YEA to cease and desist from the unauthorized strike and return to their classrooms, and disallow any further strikes until all options are exhausted and a strike becomes authorized by state law.

Should teachers stand on the picket line in the face of a cease and desist order from the SERB, they could face a myriad of consequences. After a legally required 24 hour notice to return to work, YCSD could enforce a number of sanctions, among them suspension and termination. Under ORC Section 4117.23 division B(3), striking workers could also have two days of pay deducted from their paychecks for each day they remain on an unauthorized strike. 

While suspensions and terminations can be appealed to the SERB, wage penalties enacted under division B(3) cannot be appealed. Penalties can also be enforced retroactive to the date on which the unauthorized strike commenced, meaning the district could, in theory, wait days or even weeks before issuing a notice for workers to return, then issue penalties based on the full strike duration. 

21 News reached out to YEA spokesperson Jim Courim for comment, who said the YEA is preparing a statement and will release it as soon as possible.