Woburn’s academics are set to go into a 3rd day on strike, the union mentioned Tuesday night time, defying a Massachusetts Superior Court order to return to work.
“The (Woburn Teachers Association) … shall immediately cease and desist from engaging or threatening to engage in a strike or work stoppage, slow down or other withholding of services and shall immediately return to their assigned work locations on January 31, 2023,” wrote Maureen Mulligan, Associate Justice of the Superior Court, in a ruling issued late Monday night time.
Yet the union members — who went on strike Monday following practically 5 months with no contract — returned to the picket strains Tuesday morning as negotiations resumed.
Under state legislation, it’s unlawful for public workers in Massachusetts to go on strike and will end in hefty fines.
The Woburn strike follows a number of comparable strikes over the previous a number of months, together with academics unions Malden, Haverhill and Brookline. The longest — Haverhill’s week-long protest in October — value the native union $110,000 and the MTA $50,000 in fines, along with the a whole bunch of hundreds paid to town for damages.
The WTA argued throughout the injunction listening to a earlier order to disavow the strike violated the First Amendment. The choose dominated in opposition to the WTA regardless of the case, saying the Committee had “further shown that the students in the district will suffer harm if they cannot attend school as scheduled.”
The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board additionally issued a ruling in opposition to the Massachusetts Teachers Association for “encouraging or condoning” the WTA strike Tuesday, along with their earlier order in opposition to the WTA.
In a press release Tuesday, the School Committee and Mayor requested the union “abide by this lawful order” and “end their scorched earth approach to bargaining.”
Representation for the WTA and the state met once more for a listening to on the injunction Tuesday, throughout which the choose questioned the union’s resolution to violate the order.
The choose is predicted to find out the quantity in fines the WTA can pay throughout an evidentiary listening to Wednesday. A spokesperson for town famous the state has requested for a base of $50,000 per day, plus $10,000 for every further day on strike.
Despite what each side known as “progress” in negotiations, the negotiators couldn’t attain a decision and stop simply after 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The WTA has listed high priorities together with a “living wage” for paraprofessionals — who at the moment obtain a beginning wage of about $22,000 — elementary college bodily training courses twice per week and smaller class sizes.
“The WTA team believes a tentative agreement was within reach if both sides worked throughout Tuesday night,” the union wrote in a launch.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”