Marblehead Teachers Union To Hold Rally Amid Contract Standoff

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead Education Association is looking to rally support for a new collective bargaining agreement as teachers enter the third week of the school year without a contract.

The MEA is planning the rally Monday afternoon outside Marblehead High School before the start of its next planned negotiation session with the School Committee Bargaining Sub-Committee.

The session comes as there appears still to be significant gaps between the sides — especially when it comes to wage increases and the parameters of a proposed School Safety Committee.

"The union is fighting to improve safety conditions in their schools and for longer recesses at the elementary level," the MEA said in a statement to Patch on Friday morning. "The School Committee refuses to offer a living wage for hourly workers, or salary increases that would address chronic staff turnover and keep Marblehead competitive with neighboring districts."

School Committee member Sarah Fox issued a statement on behalf of the Bargaining Sub-Committee following the last negotiating session on Tuesday, saying that the union's demands on wages are not feasible given what the School Committee called "the fiscal reality of the town of Marblehead" and that the MEA's proposal for the School Safety Committee includes provisions that the School Committee said "may likely violate student privacy."

"The Sub-Committee provided a revised proposal for the establishment of a School Safety Committee," the School Committee said on Tuesday night. "The Sub-Committee's proposal included equal membership representation from school administration and all staff areas."

On wages, the School Committee said that the union's latest proposal amounts to a 40 percent increase in pay over three years for many teachers and staff.

"The Marblehead School Committee deeply values all of its employees, students and community and will continue to commit the time necessary to reach a fair contract and is committed to balancing that with the fiscal reality of the town of Marblehead," the Bargaining Sub-Committee
said.

(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.)