Woburn schools closed Wednesday as teachers strike continues
WOBURN - Public schools will be closed in Woburn for a third straight day on Wednesday as the teachers strike continues.
On Tuesday, teachers were on the picket lines and both sides indicated there was some movement in their negotiations, but not enough to get a deal done.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to come to a deal tonight so the teachers will continue with their unlawful strike tomorrow," Mayor Scott Galvin said Tuesday night. "Again, the strike is a terrible burden to our children, to our families, to the residents."
Galvin said they have been at the table for 10-12 hours every day.
Negotiations resumed Tuesday morning, but teachers continued their walkout even after the city and state filed an injunction to end the illegal strike. A judge agreed and ordered the teachers back to the classroom. They will now face fines as long as they are out.
Galvin said a deal is on the table for paraprofessionals to receive a more than 40% raise over three years, and teachers would receive a 10.75% raise.
The city is asking for an additional 10 minutes at the end of the school day. "Those 10 minutes, when you look around at some of the communities around us, we're much lower on average than the communities around us for the length of day," Galvin said. "We think that's an important return."
Woburn Teachers Association President Barbara Locke said the school committee and Mayor Galvin called off school for Wednesday during the middle of negotiations. "Progress was being made and we were compromising, but we will not compromise on the quality of our schools," Locke told reporters Tuesday night.
The teachers union initially wanted a 14% raise. "We came down to his cost-of-living adjustment which was 10.75%," Locke said. "We don't know why they just stopped negotiating."
When Galvin was asked why negotiations stopped Tuesday night he said, "We're getting back offers that aren't reasonable."