KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasClark County Teachers May Team With Teamsters

Clark County Teachers May Team With Teamsters

It's a bold plan by a local union powerhouse. Eyewitness News has learned Teamsters Local 14 want to take over the Clark County Education Association -- the teacher's union. But the CCEA is fighting back.

They're two men with the same goal: to have better schools in Las Vegas. But they disagree on how to get it done. 

Ron Taylor has been teaching for 15 years, and the Teamsters just hired him to take over teacher contract negotiations. "I don't know how these young teachers live in this town. Young teachers come in, they don't have a clue what's going on. And then they put up with the abuse."

John Jasonek is with the current union, the Clark County Education Association. He says Taylor isn't credible, after bouncing from five different schools. "Instead of being some righteous effort to make change from within, his goal is to land a job with the Teamsters, which he appears to have done."

Jasonek does say teachers need more pay and better services. But the threat isn't enough to make him worry. "With or without that attempt, I think every year we look for ways to improve."

But Taylor stands firm. "If he wants to get into a fight, he got into a fight with the wrong people."

Taylor says his previous union work was dangerous. He says he hired bodyguards with "mob connections" to protect him. But that was then.

"This battle is not about me," said Taylor. "This battle is about education in the state of Nevada."

And when or if, the plan gets a vote, these two union forces will be there.

"His goals are pretty obvious, which he seems to have accomplished," said Jasonek.

"Bring 'em on. Bring 'em on.  We're ready," said Taylor.

According to Taylor's own website, he was expelled from the teacher's union a few years ago. The union says it would take 50-percent of the vote to be able to overthrow the CCEA. The teamsters will hold a news conference Thursday to explain the plan.

The CCEA represents some 13,000 teachers.