Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin directed the academics union to pay $250,000 to town as reimbursement for his or her week-long strike, which each side described as a “sticking point” to hammering out an settlement.
Galvin is in search of the cost as a part of a return-to-work settlement, which he mentioned ensures that academics “won’t face any discipline for participating in the illegal strike” and is the final step in negotiations.
“The important part is the city had costs for the strike, and those costs were in the area of $250,000,” Galvin instructed the Herald Saturday. “They’re not meant to be punitive, however they’re meant to reimburse town for the price of the unlawful strike.
“And that’s where the hanging point is, but my job, as the mayor, it’s my fiduciary duty to make sure we get those costs back,” he added, saying it was the “sticking point” that resulted in one other failed negotiating session early Saturday morning.
The Woburn Teachers Association, School Committee and mayor reached a tentative settlement on monetary packages for academics and paraprofessionals on Friday night time till the deadlock after midnight over the requested cost, which the union described as a “ransom” the mayor is demanding from educators.
Negotiations will resume at 12 p.m. Sunday.
“The mayor is basically holding us hostage with $250,000,” mentioned Eric Scarborough, a social research trainer and secretary for the Woburn Teachers Association.
“He at the moment seems more interested in punishing teachers who stood up for their schools, who stood up for their students, than he is in terms of getting school back on and getting kids back in school.”
Scarborough mentioned the union additionally took difficulty with what it felt was “punitive” language within the mayor’s return-to-work settlement, which left open the potential for “future litigation.”
The union mentioned it provided to pay for any “extraordinary and reasonable costs incurred as a result of the strike,” and make donations of $15,000 apiece to the Woburn Boys and Girls Club and YMCA, and $1,000 to every elementary and center college parent-teacher group and the Woburn Memorial High School Scholarship Fund.
This deal was rejected by the mayor, the union mentioned in a press release.
Galvin mentioned prices have exceeded $250,000. Daily police particulars on the Woburn faculties have price roughly $95,000, the district continued to supply lunch to college students, and unplanned administrative and authorized prices had been incurred.
In addition, he mentioned an expert improvement day for academics with a “reputable, well-known speaker” from California needed to be canceled.
Galvin mentioned there hasn’t been a academics strike in Woburn since 1970, when he was in first grade.
He directed blame towards the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which he mentioned is encouraging native academics unions to go on strike as a “bargaining chip” in negotiations, pointing to latest strikes in Brookline, Haverhill and Malden.
Under state legislation, it’s unlawful for public staff to go on strike and the Woburn Teachers Association’s resolution to defy a Jan. 27 Superior Court order to return to work has already resulted in roughly $90,000 in fines, in response to Galvin.
The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board filed a “verified complaint and a motion for preliminary injunction” towards the MTA on Thursday, ordering it to cease encouraging the strike in Woburn.
“Let the MTA pay the money,” Galvin mentioned. “They’ve got $49 million in the bank.”
While Galvin mentioned the strike has disadvantaged college students of an training for every week and has been “terribly disruptive for parents who work,” Scarborough mentioned college students have largely been supportive and have even joined academics at a number of the protests.
“I am hoping to be back in school on Monday,” Scarborough mentioned. “I would love to see my students again.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”