MARBLEHEAD – As Gloucester students headed back to school Monday, Beverly and Marblehead children were away on the 11th and 10th day of school, respectively. Negotiations between the two communities have come to a standstill now that the court has ordered an independent fact-finder to resolve the labor disputes.
Both unions face hundreds of thousands of dollars in court-imposed fines after a judge found them in contempt after they were involved in an illegal strike. Union leadership says school committees do not negotiate in good faith. Striking teachers are not getting paid, as school committee members say it is illegal to pay an employee who is on strike.
Public employee strikes are illegal in Massachusetts
All public employee strikes are illegal in Massachusetts, due to a law passed in 1973 after a number of strikes in New Bedford and Franklin that resulted in teachers being arrested. Teachers are not arrested in modern strikes, but their unions face heavy fines.
“I don’t think a judge wants to put someone in jail because you don’t necessarily want to make a martyr out of someone who may not deserve martyr status,” said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Schools. Commissions.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, members of the Marblehead school committee charged that the simultaneous strikes in three North Shore communities were coordinated by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the statewide teachers union.
“In this case, it is clear that the MTA is coordinating these strikes statewide,” said Jenn Schaeffner, co-chair of the Marblehead School Committee.
“Well, I don’t believe there’s any evidence that this is part of a statewide conspiracy, but I can say it’s unusual that three school districts in the same area would all strike at the same time and talk some of the same talk.” would use. points,” Koocher added. “This significantly disrupts the well-being of children of all ages, and it is never good to be out of school.”
Lawyer wants union to pay parents after strikes
A Chicago attorney is currently trying to change the outcome of the teacher strikes through lawsuits. Daniel Suhr of Hughes and Suhr Law represents several Newton parents in lawsuit against the Newton Teachers Association for individual damages (childcare, missed work and more) from the 2024 winter strike that lasted 11 days Newton. He has four other active similar businesses across the country.
“I think the lesson that unions learned from Newton is that we can break the law and still make a lot of money,” Suhr said. “That if we make a $53 million collective bargaining agreement but only pay half a million dollars in fines, that’s just a win if we don’t care what the law is.”
Suhr claims that if unions paid fines to parents, it would deter future strikes.
“We want to prevent this from happening again,” he said. “The system is clearly broken. These orders from judges are not respected by the unions. And so we hope that a real financial disincentive, which pays these parents and students for the harm they cause, will finally put an end to these problems. this.”
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