Cardona and Su met with Washoe County School District staff, state and labor leaders for a roundtable discussion.
During the meeting at a local community center, Cardona celebrated the most recent contract negotiated by the Washoe County School Board with the district’s unions that gives teachers a 20% pay raise over the next two years and a 19.6% pay raise for all education support professionals over the next year.
Cardona also highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration’s Good Jobs Initiative, a call to action across the federal government to support access to and retention of good jobs.
“In education, what that means is respecting the profession, providing competitive salary, better working conditions and a voice at the table. And that's what we're seeing here in Reno. I am really proud of what we saw and what we heard from teachers,” Cardona said.
Su applauded the contract and stressed the importance of union jobs across the country.
“The result that we're seeing in Washoe County, the 20% pay increase, the other conditions that we talked about today - compensation for prep time, opportunities for advancement. All of those came about because the parties negotiated for it at the bargaining table. And President Biden is a big believer in the collective bargaining process,” Su said.
Cardona and Su will stop in Las Vegas on April 4 to meet with Nevada's congressional leaders and tour a local elementary school.
