BEVERLY — Striking teachers took their case directly to Mayor Mike Cahill Tuesday night, marching into City Hall with signs and interrupting Cahill with chants as he attempted to speak at a City Council meeting.
City Council President Julie Flowers pounded her gavel several times in an attempt to stop the teachers from interrupting and eventually called for a five-minute recess to restore order.
As Cahill spoke during a public hearing about electric school buses, teachers held signs directly behind him saying, “Beverly Educators on Strike” and “Fair Contract Now.”
At one point, a man sitting a few feet away from Cahill yelled at him, “Mayor Cahill, are you going to negotiate with teachers?” Cahill remained silent and stared straight ahead.
The rally at City Hall marked an escalation in the ongoing teachers strike, which headed into its sixth day on Wednesday, and the third day that schools were closed. The School Committee and Beverly Teachers Association negotiated for another day but were little closer to agreement on a contract.
“We’re here tonight to put pressure on the mayor and to get the mayor to bargain with us,” Beverly Teachers Association Co-President Julia Brotherton said as about 50 teachers waited in the hallway outside Cahill’s office before heading in to speak at the City Council meeting.
“We want to get back to school as soon as possible and we don’t feel that the mayor is feeling the urgency to do that,” Brotherton said.
Cahill did not address the teachers during his remarks to the City Council. The topic of the scheduled hearing was the city’s purchase of eight electric school buses.
Teacher Kris Melanson urged city councilors to convince Cahill to take part in the negotiations.
“The mayor won’t speak to us and he’s the only one who can solve this,” Melanson said.
Cahill has said he is not taking part in the bargaining sessions because he is not a member of the School Committee’s negotiations subcommittee and his presence would violate open meeting laws.
Before heading inside, about 100 teachers lined the sidewalk in front of City Hall, holding signs and waving to honking cars.
“None of us want this. None of us want any of this,” teacher Joanna Seeber said. “It is deeply disappointing that management continues to come back not offering anything that is workable or anything that is new from the previous day.”
The two sides were scheduled to resume negotiations on Wednesday.
The School Committee said in a statement Tuesday that it provided the BTA with a three-year counter-proposal for both teachers and paraprofessionals that would increase compensation and paid parental leave, two of the biggest sticking points in the negotiation. The School Committee said it was waiting for a response from the BTA.
Beverly teachers went on strike after school last Thursday and schools were closed on Friday. Schools were shut again on Tuesday after three days of bargaining over the holiday weekend.
The strike is affecting more than 4,600 students and 650 union teachers and paraprofessionals. Combined with strikes in Marblehead and Gloucester, more than 10,000 students are out of school in the three communities.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.