Officials Strike in La?
 

Now is not a good time to be asking for a raise. Our state is facing a $4 billion shortfall in the budget and are to the point of threatening to cut teachers. Some of it is pure politics but there aren't too many more places to cut.

It might not be a good time, but unless they want just anyone to work those games, then I suggest they revisit their pay structure. This is not a cheap endeavor as it used to be.

Peace

Officials have the same right to loosely organize as a group of independent contractors and decide whether to work or not work the games. Supply and demand at work.

None of these organized activities seem to work, though, because there will be a significant number of officials who will see this as their opportunity to improve their standing in the state by walking on the backs of those who sit out.

It could if the "right" officials do this. Just read the article I posted. Many individuals think the JV officials stink. So let them have second-tier officials say enough and I bet the "right" thing happens and they will change their tune. I have seen it personally without a so-called strike or organized action. But I agree, it is probably not going to work out that way.

Peace

Considering we argue over wing signals, beanbag colors, and whether to wear black shorts or white shorts, then what length of sock to wear with the shorts, I'd hold out 0 hope for a show of solidarity in a "work stoppage":(:mad::o:confused:

And while certain coaches may be vocal and complain about the individuals who will work the games, local school that do a lot of the hiring (around here all non-conference games and all subvarsity) are just looking to fill slots and don't really care as long as those slots are filled.

There is a difference between arguing over bean bags, then arguing over what pay is just in a very specific area. We never argue over these things about bean bags, it is up to the crew. And when folks want to do something, they do what the top crews do.

Peace

If you top officials strike, you might have a chance...but where I live, there are plenty of quality officials waiting in the wings for a chance...solidarity would never work in our area.

And it begins.....


Shreveport officials among those walking out | shreveporttimes.com | Shreveport Times

But not all states work that way. Schools here don't hire or contract with anyone. A local booking agent assigns all games in our 40 HS area. Here, if a local association decided to go on strike, the schools would have no recourse.

The question is, how are games assigned in Louisiana? Looks like their system is similiar to ours. $31 a game is ****ing ridiculous.

Under the comments, crazycat99 wrote:

Once the officials show that they actually know HOW to properly officiate a game, perhaps they will receive more money. Most of the officiating I have seen in recent years is pitiful, if not downright criminal.

Well now's the time dip$hit! Go out there and show them how it's done!

Here, if the local association walked out and you decided to work games, you could forget ever working another game once the dispute was settled. That's one thing I'm 100% sure of.

Is there a chance the state would decertify the association and move quickly to either establish a new one with people willing to work or perhaps divvy up the schools among neighboring associations?

Sorry guys, but the harsh reality is that, IN GENERAL, schools, ADs, coaches and spectators (who pay school taxes) take the job we do (no matter how well we may do it) for granted and view us as a necessary evil. I'm afraid it's always been that way and there doesn't seem to be any great change on the horizon.

ADs and some coaches may appreciate the effort we put forth and the impact our performance has on the overall product, but even within those that appreciate what we do, few respect us as paid professionals on an equal level as themselves. Perhaps it's the "part-time" nature of what we do, not that conversion to full time makes any sense.

I suspect the teaching, coaching and administrative personnel in schools IN GENERAL view officials as being closer to PTA, school maintenance personnel, school bus drivers, teacher's aids and other positions that are designed to assist making their principal (and superior) roles easier. Some professional level school personnel are very adept and subtle at displaying their sense of superiority, while others are pretty blatant and smug.

The same people who are most offended at any suggestion that their group cut expenses to keep the entire group active, likely see that tactic perfectly reasonable as it relates to officials.

It is what it is, however, and has been that way since whenever we started.

The teachers in my area pay nothing for health insurance and pay no copay at the doctor and have been screaming to high heavens at the suggestion that they join the rest of society in paying a share of their healthcare costs.

At a school I worked at on Saturday night, they have a timer, scorer, and 2 supervisors that all make more for the evening than the varsity officials do ($66 vs. $60). They all work a JV/V tilt, but they don't exactly have to run or do any heavy lifting. From what I told, there are people in the district willing to do this work on a volunteer basis, but union rules prohibit it.

Since we've never had that situation, I can't speak to what the state might do as far as de-certifying.

Neighboring associations wouldn't be an option as we handle the SE corner of the state. Further, we've had to send crews to cover games in other areas when they've had too many non-con games on one night.

In Louisiana, the officials seem to have the backing of the LHSAA admin.

Personally, I don't think decertifying your local associations and starting new ones is very smart.

Good for them. I hope they hold out and get a significant increase and some respect. $31 a game sounds insaine to me.

When I first started working basketball in 1988, we had what we called a "jumper" system where a varsity official would be assigned (usually) 3 games -- the freshman, JV, and Varsity for the night. It was his responsibility to find another younger official to work the frosh and JV game. He would take the fee from the school and pay in cash his jr. official. Usually, he paid either $25 or $30 for the subvarsity games. I don't know what they made for the entire night from the school, but my guess is anywhere from $60-80 minimum -- and depended on the school district, crowd, and counting method. So the fees 22 years ago in Texas were more than they are now in Louisiana for a varsity game.

That's a crime, and I would have walked away years ago.

Looks like it is having an impact...

Referee sit-out forces cancellation of prep games - Plaquemine, LA - Plaquemine Post South

Mike, are we getting a preview of this coming fall in Texas?

The principal issue is significantly different, i.e. in LA it is money, here it is "control" (although it did start as money). I suspect a lot more folks would be motivated by money than "control" so we might not see the numbers sitting in Texas that are in LA.

Predictably, some in LA are making it seem that the officials are taking away opportunities from the kids.

What those people forget is that this isn't charity work. If they want free (or very cheap) officials, let the parents come out of the stands (one from each team) and let them work the game for $31 each.

$31. I still can't get over that. We got $30 for a freshman game in PA in 1987 (the year I started). That's 24 years ago.

Sure that wasn't 2 freshman games, Rich? 30 is about what we got for 2 subvarsity games around then.

In Pennsylvania? I remember working 1 game a night and never making less than $30. I could be wrong -- it was a long time ago.

I was in Texas, and though I'd find it hard to believe, if you remember it like that, then I do believe you. Seems like pay rose pretty fast from when I started until 2 or 3 years later. And Texas has always paid based on gate receipts. I did have a $90 JV game (one) and a $212 varsity game in or around 1991 and 92.

I think when we worked middle school we made something like $35 for 2 games. When we worked JV, we only worked a single game.

Regardless, $31 is incredibly low. Thing is, I worked as a member of the New Orleans association the year I lived there, worked a varsity schedule, and have no idea how much we were paid for those games. The money meant more in PA, when I was in college.

"Officials are paid between $68 and $74 per game, depending on certification. The payscale remains the same regardless of the size of the school."

What is this about? Someone is misinformed since there is a large difference between $31 & $68.

You might be confusing the pay for basketball and football officials.

Football officials are paid up to $75. The referee gets $15 extra (I like that idea -- I'm willing to bet the one guy on the crew who I think would be a great referee but doesn't want to do it would sing a different tune if we had a pay differential :D ).

It stuns me that FB officials get $75 and basketball officials get $31 (3-person crew). Every other state I've been in pays officials about the same for each sport.

I believe $68 to $74 is for a doubleheader, GV and BV.

Thanks. Then the writter of the article is not using correct facts since he wrote "per game".

I've always said that they should pay us the same as they do the police officers who watch us do our job.

We had a game last year where one of our officials was accidentally given a check as one of the security personnel. Officials game check - $65. Security game check - $160. We told our crew chief he needed to find a new crew for the following week because we were going to work security for this high school.