Beverly Teachers Strike: Union Files Lawsuit Over 'Bad Faith' Tactics

BEVERLY, MA — The Beverly Teachers Association said it filed a lawsuit with the Department of Labor Relations on Wednesday accusing the School Committee of bargaining in "bad faith" and relying on a forthcoming court fine that "punishes educators" into ending their strike without a fair deal on a new contract.

"The School Committee has clearly been making no proposals or progress, leading to the union's charge," the Beverly Teachers Association said Wednesday night on the eve of the fourth school day lost to the strike called nearly a week ago after teachers worked for more than two months without a contract.

"It's clear to us now that they have no intent to work with us and reopen schools," BTA co-President Andrea Sherman said. "Are they waiting until the court punishes educators?"

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Public sector union strikes are against the law in Massachusetts with the BTA facing escalating fines and other penalties if the work stoppage extends. Lawyers for the district argued in a state courtroom this week that fines are, indeed, meant to be "coercive" as a means to force teachers to come back to work.

"They know the judge will fine us," Judy Martin, a preschool paraprofessional at the McKeown School, said in a BTA statement. "They also know we don't have a lot of resources to pay those fines. My paraprofessional colleagues make only $20,000 per year. So we're faced with two options: continue to live in poverty or hope the School Committee bargains with us before the judge bankrupts our union."

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The BTA said it filed an additional prohibited practice charge at the DLR because cameras were being monitored in the union's bargaining room. Once the concerns were raised with the state mediator, the state official ordered the parties to move from McKeown School to Hannah Elementary School to continue bargaining.

BTA supporters — most wearing red BTA shirts — briefly delayed a public hearing on purchasing electric school buses at Tuesday's City Council meeting with chants of "Fund our schools!" and "What's outrageous? Poverty wages!" as Mayor Michael Cahill stood at the microphone before City Council President Julie Flowers asked for a brief recess and repeated her request that they allow the public hearing to begin so they could speak.

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A succession of BTA supporters then stated their case for what they feel should be in the new contract during an hour of public comment, with multiple speakers asking the City Council for assistance in the negotiations.

"We are doing our part to get fair contracts finalized," School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said in her last update to the community on Monday night. "The BTA needs to do their part now by ending this illegal strike, working with us to reach an agreement and letting our students get back to school."

Abell said on Monday the sides remained about $14.4 million apart on contract proposals.

Mayor Cahill did not address the teachers and supporters at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)