Melrose Education Association Ratifies Teacher Contract Agreement

MELROSE, MA — Members of the Melrose Education Association’s teachers bargaining unit ratified a new contract agreement on Monday, according to union officials, less than two days after negotiators hashed out a deal Saturday night.

The vote on Monday came on the heels of a victory rally on Sunday where union educators and their supporters celebrated their agreement, which itself followed a threat to strike late last week.

“You have helped make our union stronger and more powerful than ever moving forward,” Melrose Education Association President Lisa Donovan said of union negotiators in a statement delivered on Sunday and shared via social media later in the day.

Melrose Education Association members authorized a strike on Friday to begin on Tuesday if parties couldn’t reach an agreement over the weekend to end months of negotiations around a new contract for Melrose Public Schools teachers.

That move, Donovan said on Sunday, helped negotiators secure “the best possible deal” at the bargaining table when they met with Melrose School Committee representatives beginning on Saturday morning.

Parties announced their tentative agreement around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. The agreement promises cost of living and market adjustments for teachers totaling 10% over its three-year term. The agreement will also provide for increased preparation and planning time for teachers, according to Saturday’s announcement.

The new contract will run retroactively from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025.

City and school officials reacted to the agreement over the weekend, with Melrose Public Schools Superintendent Julie Kukenberger saying she was “grateful” for a deal.

Donovan, who has led the Melrose Education Association through rallies, protests and public appearances before the School Committee and the City Council in recent months, further celebrated the agreement in her remarks at the Education Association’s rally at Melrose’s Memorial Knoll Park on Sunday.

“For the first time in almost a year, we can focus fully on our students, and I cannot express enough how amazing that feeling is,” Donovan said.

Donovan thanked the union’s bargaining team as well as students, families and supporters in the community.

Donovan continued, thanking fellow union educators in communities outside Melrose, who declared their support for what was then a possible strike in Melrose on Friday night after the Melrose Education Association announced its vote to authorize a strike.

With an agreement now reached in Melrose, Donovan acknowledged lingering contract fights in other Massachusetts communities.

“[T]he Melrose Education Association stands at the ready to assist you in your fights for dignity and respect in your communities in the same way that you showed up for us,” Donovan said to regional union colleagues.

“[T]here is still much work to be done to make public education in Massachusetts and in the United States, from PreK through higher ed, an equitable experience for all,” she later continued.

Melrose’s tentative teacher contract agreement on Saturday requires approval from both the full membership of the Melrose Education Association and the Melrose School Committee to take effect.

With the Education Association’s ratification now complete, the contract is awaiting approval from the School Committee. A vote on the topic is expected on Thursday, according to reporting from the Boston Globe.