Teachers and paraprofessionals chafing under months of protracted contract negotiations voted Thursday afternoon to go on strike, a job action considered illegal under state law and that has closed schools for nearly 3,000 Gloucester students on Friday.
It’s unknown whether schools will be in session Tuesday after the long Veterans Day weekend, with the schools already scheduled to be closed for the holiday. It was unknown Thursday night how long the job action might last and when both sides might get back to the bargaining table.
After meeting at the Gloucester House restaurant on Rogers Street around 4 p.m. Thursday, hundreds of teachers and paraprofessionals, part of the Union of Gloucester Educators, which is the combined Gloucester Teachers Association and the Gloucester Association of Educational Paraprofessionals, marched up the hill and held a rally on the steps of City Hall.
They demanded the School Committee come to agreements on their expired contracts. The vote was 98% of the 404 educators between teachers and paraprofessionals in favor of a strike, according to the union.
“I am here to announce that the Union of Gloucester Educators are on strike effective immediately!” Union of Gloucester Educators Co-President Rachel Salvo Rex said to cheers from members holding strike signs that read “Gloucester Educators on Strike.”
Later that evening, Mayor Greg Verga, a member of the School Committee, and School Committee Chair Kathleen Clancy and other committee members held a press conference at West Parish Elementary School at which they said both sides are now in mediation.
“This illegal strike will harm students directly,” Clancy said, “especially heartbreaking after considering the learning loss from COVID and beyond, we are still trying to catch up.”
She said the School Committee has bargained in good faith for months, listening to educators and considering their feedback seriously. The school board was committed to swift resolution.
“We have moved from our original proposal making every effort to show our union members how much we care and respect them. It is paramount the union end this illegal strike immediately, come back to the bargaining table, and get our children back in the schools where they belong.”
At the City Hall rally, a paraprofessional spoke about struggling with low pay and a first-grade teacher who is seven months pregnant spoke about the need for paid parental leave, highlighting some sticking points in negotiations in the past months.
Special education paraprofessional Margaret Rudolph, a member of the negotiating team, spoke about the work she does supporting students, which has left her physically and verbally “hurt.”
“And for all of this, I do not get paid a living wage,” she said. After 18 years on the job, she said, she makes $25,000 a year. She works as a waitress and in the schools, leaving her physically and mentally exhausted.
“One job should be enough,” she said.
“We give so much of ourselves to our students every single day,” said Abigail Ash, a first-grade teacher West Parish Elementary School. She said she is seven months pregnant with her second child. She has an 18-month son, and she had to use accrued sick time during her last maternity leave. She is faced with uncertainty over her maternity leave for her second child.
“This is a drastic action, but this is the only way that I feel that Mayor Verga and the School Committee will listen to my students’ needs,” she said.
“So, it is true that for municipal employees, it is illegal for us to go on strike, so that is the current legislation here in Massachusetts,” Rex said. “But quite frankly we feel so strongly about the crisis in our schools, we also feel that Superintendent (Ben) Lummis and the Gloucester School Committee have left us no other choice.”
Verga said during the press conference, “As you also may know, from Mass. General Law, strikes by public educators are illegal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This strike is not only illegal it also impacts our students access to essential resources, including mental health resources, two meals a day and critical in-person learning.” He said families may struggle to fill the gap in services provided by the schools.
Verga said the schools have been proactive in trying to fill some of the gaps through community organizations such as The Open Door food pantry and the Cape Ann YMCA.
Clancy said Thursday night it has not been decided about whether the football game between Gloucester and Shawsheen Tech in the MIAA Division 5 state playoffs would take place.
“We are aware that there is a playoff football game tomorrow night,” Clancy said Thursday night. “We will provide an update on the game by 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.”
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, another sign of things to come was the School Committee voting to hold an emergency session to approve a strike investigation petition to the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations.
The next negotiation session is scheduled for Nov. 12.
Rex said at the rally the negotiating team was willing to meet around the clock, drawing chants of “Right now, right now!”
Clancy said during the press conference, given the strike vote, the meeting would not be held.
Since the School Committee filed its strike investigation petition, Clancy said that puts both sides immediately into a mediation process, meaning the state Department of Labor steps in helps both sides come to a resolution. She said the School Committee is asking for an injunction to stop the strike so students can back to school.
“And it is up to the courts on assessing fines and helping get this to a conclusion, correcting and illegal act,” Clancy said.
The agreement with the paraprofessionals union expired June 30, 2023 and the sides were in mediation after an impasse was declared. The contract between the School Committee and the teachers expired Aug. 31.
“Our schools are in crisis,” Rex said. “The only way educators can see a way forward is through the action we are taking tonight. Educators are highly educated, highly skilled and highly trained problem solvers. We have identified issues as inherent problems in our individual school buildings and throughout the district. I want to say clearly, we can fix these problems, but we should not only fix it for ourselves, we should fix it for our students.”
Rex, who has more than 30 years’ experience at Gloucester High, said the educators proposals serve to solve problems and end the crisis in Gloucester Public Schools.
“Teachers and paraprofessionals have been fighting for safe schools, paid parental leave, competitive wages, basic dignity and respect at work. In all the time we have been at the table, the School Committee has done nothing but stall and reject our proposals. This leaves educators feeling exploited, ignored and frustrated.”
She said the Union of Gloucester Educators did not come to the decision lightly and that students were at the heart of every decision they make.
“We have continued to make concessions in order to accommodate this beautiful city,” Rex said, “but that ends tonight,” she said to cheers.
“We are fighting for our students, for our schools, for each other and the educators who will come after us. Mayor Verga, Gloucester School Committee, Superintendent Lummis, we are calling on you to settle our contract and end this crisis,” Rex said.
“Our educators are our family,” our friends and our neighbors; some of these educators were my classmates; some of them taught my kids and now some of them are teaching my grandchildren. I firmly believe that teaching is a calling but it is also a profession and one that should be compensated in a manner that reflects the community’s commitment to them and to our students, but it must also recognize the limitations of municipal finances.”
Verga said for months, members of the School Committee have worked tirelessly to bargain in good faith and to offer competitive pay and benefit proposals. He said negotiations are an exercise of give and take, and said it was disappointing that they have reached this point “when dialogue and cooperation should be our focus.”
The mayor also warned of a looming fiscal crisis, noting that while they were able to balance this year’s budget using one-time money, budget projections show a deficit of $4 million to $7 million. Verga said he was committed to supporting the negotiations and working toward an agreement.
“We can get there if we work together and that means getting back to the table now and getting our children back in the classrooms,” he said
When asked about the student implications for a strike, by Gillnetter New Editor junior Santana Faria, 16, Rex said: “This will totally affect our students who lie at the heart of every decision that we make and for right now, and until our contract is solved, it appears that schools will be closed.”
Educator strike votes in Beverly and Gloucester on Thursday drew the support of 30 local educators unions, including those in the region including the AFT Amesbury Local 1033, Andover Education Association, the Boston Teachers Union, North Andover Teachers Association, North Shore Education Consortium Employees Federation, Revere Teachers Association, Salem Teachers Union, and others, according to a statement.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.