Beverly and Gloucester schools closed as teachers go on strike
BEVERLY - There was no school in Beverly and Gloucester, Massachusetts Friday after teachers went on strike.
According to the Beverly Teachers Association, they have been working to reach a deal on a new contract for almost a year.
Beverly teachers strike
"None of us wants to do this, but at this point we have no choice," said Julia Brotherton, co-president of the BTA at a news conference Thursday evening. "Beverly schools are in crisis. Critical paraprofessional positions regularly go unfilled because the city pays only poverty wages."
Brotherton said 99% of the membership voted to go on strike.
Rachael Abell, Chair of the Beverly School Committee, said a petition was filed with the Department of Labor Relations earlier this week in an attempt to prevent the strike.
"We know this decision by the BTA to take this illegal action unfairly disrupts the education of our students," Abell said in a statement. "The School Committee bargaining team is continuing to negotiate in good faith to reach contracts that are fair to all educators and staff and we urge the union bargaining team to work with the mediator and us to reach agreement."
In Beverly, the union is fighting for better teacher pay, pay above minimum wage for paraprofessionals, 12 weeks of paid parental leave and smaller class sizes.
"We are not going to go back into that building until it is safe to do so," seventh grade Spanish teacher Alison Nichols said. "People don't quite understand the ins and outs of what's happening in the school building every day and what we're faced with but we are highly qualified professionals. We would not be out here if we didn't think that this was so important."
Beverly Mayor Michael Cahill says he offered paraprofessionals and teachers $24 million in new money over three years.
Schools in Beverly will be closed through the duration of the strike. Athletics, theater and band rehearsals, and field trips will continue.
"We are prepared to bargain around the clock all weekend to solve this, but the city has got to show some serious movement," Brotherton said. "We need fair contracts now."
Gloucester teachers strike
In Gloucester, 98% of educators voted to go on strike, according to the Union of Gloucester Educators.
"Despite teachers working 68 days without a contract and paraprofessionals enduring 496 days without one, the School Committee has stalled on basic, commonsense proposals put forward by UGE," the union said in a statement.
In a letter to Gloucester Public School families, Superintendent Ben Lummis said he was "terribly sorry" that schools were closed on Friday.
"The unions' actions mean they have forced our public schools to shut down until they are willing to reach an agreement with the School Committee," Lummis said in the letter.
Gloucester teachers are also pushing for better pay for teachers, a living wage for paraprofessionals, 10 weeks of paid parental leave and more prep time.
"We have exhausted every single possible option," said Matt Lewis of the UGE, "but we ultimately decided that it had to come to this and we are totally understanding of what it means to go on strike, but we believe that in order to get what our students, our community and our city and our education system needs, that we have to take this drastic action."
Lewis is expecting his first child and is unsure what the future holds without a new contract. "I don't know if I will be able to stay home with my newborn or if I'll have to come back to work."
Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga says the challenge right now is they have a budget deficit between $4 million and $7 million for the upcoming fiscal year.
"It is disappointing to see that we've reached this point when dialogue and cooperation should be our focus," Verga said.
But they want to get back to the bargaining table and have asked a mediator to facilitate negotiations to get teachers and students back in the classroom.
"We are deeply disappointed that they have chosen to vote for an illegal strike, interrupting student learning and interrupting after-school and athletic programs as well as leaving parents scrambling for childcare," said Gloucester School Committee Chair Kathy Clancy.
"We do understand parents have to stay home. We're hoping that everything will be settled soon and that we can get back to our safe schools," says Gloucester teacher Dawn Leoni.
"We're just trying to get what's best for our students, our community, and our educators," says Lewis.
The Gloucester superintendent said a decision about athletics and extracurricular activities will be announced on Friday.
Schools were already scheduled to be closed in both communities on Monday Nov. 11 for the Veterans Day holiday.
Teacher strikes illegal in Massachusetts
Teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts and unions could face fines.
The money would go to the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations. A city or town can also charge the union for what it spends on things like police details and overtime.