Striking teachers report slow progress as 3 communities look at second week without school
GLOUCESTER - As teacher strikes in Marblehead, Gloucester and Beverly continue, teachers' unions and school committees are reporting slow progress.
Why are teachers striking?
Teachers in all three communities have cited better pay, paid family leave, more preparation time and funding for paraprofessionals as reason for their separate strikes.
Educators in Gloucester and Beverly have been on strike since the night of Thursday, Nov. 7. Marblehead teachers authorized a strike at the end of the school day on Friday, Nov. 8.
Since it is illegal for teachers to strike in Massachusetts, a judge ordered the Gloucester and Beverly teachers' unions to pay $50,000 if the strike wasn't called off. The fines go up by $10,000 each day the strike continues.
The Beverly Teachers Union has filed a complaint with the Department of Labor Relations, accusing the school committee of bargaining in bad faith.
In Beverly and Gloucester, school has been canceled since Friday, Nov. 8. In Marblehead, school has been canceled since Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Progress reported in Gloucester
Gloucester School Committee Chair Kathleen Clancy said the district reached agreements over paraprofessional training. The school committee has also offered a contract that would see paraprofessionals earning as much as $29 per hour at the last step of the pay scale and $23.95 at the first step of the pay scale. The presented package would also offer a fourth year to the contract.
"We know that these are difficult conversations. All of our educators work hard and the reality is that a range of complex factors are taken into account when determining salaries. Our first-year teachers are paid differently from ninth-year teachers. Our first-year paraprofessionals are paid differently than more seasoned paraprofessionals. Our teachers with bachelor's degrees are paid differently than those with master's degrees," Clancy said in a prepared statement.
According to Matt Lewis, co-chair and vice president of the Union of Gloucester Educators, an agreement had been reached on paraprofessional development. Lewis posted a video update on the UGE's Facebook page, noting that the UGE met face-to-face with management on Saturday. He cited "equal pay for equal work" for paraprofessionals and paid parental leave as areas still under negotiation.
"We are committed to working to making sure that all of our proposals and any modifications reflect the needs of this association and the needs of the students we serve," Lewis said. "We need them to meet our needs before the schools open back up."
Bill Melvin, chairperson of the school committee's negotiating team, said the school committee offered a comprehensive package, which would increase wages, professional development, sick days and paid parental leave, for paraprofessionals
"We have great respect for our educators and we're trying to show it by offering significant increases from their current wages," said Melvin on the school committee's Facebook page. "We are trying to be creative about solutions, but there are financial realities that cannot be ignored."
Tensions have escalated in Gloucester as Mayor Greg Verga was caught on video making an obscene gesture to a chanting crowd as he left contract negotiations Thursday night. He has since apologized for the incident.
Beverly teachers say prepare for "long fight"
Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said the school committee would be looking at the Beverly Teachers Association's responses and would offer any counter-proposals it wanted the BTA to consider Saturday afternoon.
"We look forward to the BTA's responses and are hopeful we can swiftly reach an agreement that is fair to all parties and gets our students and educators back in the classroom Monday morning," Abell said.
However, by Saturday evening, the BTA posted a video statement to its Facebook page, saying, "Today's update is that management has signaled that they want this to be a long fight."
Julia Brotherton, co-president of the BTA, said that the city has said it can't afford to raise wages "above the poverty level." Brotherton said the BTA offered to wait an additional year for increases and extend the teachers' contracts to four years.
"The only way forward at this point is to get to that fourth year," Brotherton said.
Marblehead tentative agreement on school safety
The Marblehead Education Association announced on its Facebook page that it had reached a tentative agreement with the Marblehead School Committee regarding school safety. However, negotiations continue between teachers and management. The MEA said there were as many as eight tentative agreements in the works.
"Now we must turn our sights towards reaching agreements on other key items like parental and family leave, pay and training for our essential paraprofessionals and tutors, and bereavement leave," the MEA posted.
The Marblehead School Committee has not yet released a statement on the negotiations.