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Massachusetts Teachers Are Continuing a Wildcat Strike Wave

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Massachusetts Teachers Are Continuing a Wildcat Strike Wave


A wildly successful, illegal three-day strike by the Andover Education Association (AEA) in November has reverberated statewide for educators in Massachusetts.

The lowest-paid instructional assistants got a 60 percent wage jump immediately. Classroom aides on the higher end of the scale got a 37 percent increase.

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Members won paid family medical leave, an extra personal day, fewer staff meetings, and the extension of lunch and recess times for elementary students.

Andover is twenty miles north of Boston, and the strike involved ten schools.

For ten months and twenty-seven bargaining sessions, the Andover School Committee had insisted that none of these demands were possible. But by the end of the first day of the strike, they had ceded many items. By day three, they agreed to almost all of the union’s demands.

Public-school workers can’t legally strike in Massachusetts — but Andover’s is just one of a series of school unions that have struck over the last four years, defying the ban, and in some cases paying heavy fines as a result.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association is pushing for legislation that would legalize public sector strikes after six months of bargaining.

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The wins at Andover come after years of building rank-and-file power and democracy within the AEA.

When President Matt Bach and his slate won leadership in 2019, they startled the district by refusing to meet privately with the superintendent, insisting that all meetings would include at least one member.

The new leaders opened up union meetings and budgets. They shared union budget details, including that coffers had been significantly depleted by leadership travel to conferences. They encouraged discussion of critical issues, and the union started organizing building by building.

The first big fight was at South Elementary School, where a bullying principal was targeting teachers. The new union leaders sent out a survey about the school climate, but the recently deposed union leaders alleged that those asking for the survey were themselves the bullies.

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Siding with the former union leaders, the district began an investigation and interviewed dozens of teachers. Instead of being intimidated, members got angry and organized a rally to call out the bullying. Under this pressure, the principal and the head of human resources were removed by the superintendent.

In the return to work midpandemic, AEA members refused to enter the school buildings for a professional development day until their safety could be assured. Instead, they set up lawn chairs and their computers outside.

This action was deemed a strike by the state. The members were unprepared for an actual strike, so they returned to the buildings the next day. However, the action secured them a new air filtration system and helped lead to the resignation of the superintendent.

When the district received American Rescue Plan Act funds in the midst of the pandemic, AEA insisted that some of those funds be used to pay bonuses to the lowest-paid workers in the district, including cafeteria and other workers not in the union. The district balked, so the union worked with the community to bring the question to the Andover town meeting, which in some towns in Massachusetts is the town’s governing body. The goal: let the residents decide if they wanted to use the funds as bonuses.

School lawyers insisted that the motion was illegal, and the issue was between the union and the district. At the town meeting, though, the community voted to support the motion as an advisory decision. (The district reopened negotiations, and the issue remains unsettled.)

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Each of these actions added a layer of educators ready to take on the district during contract negotiations. But not everyone was convinced.

Kate Carlton, a special education teacher at Doherty Middle School, told me she kept the union at arm’s length because of negative past experiences with unions.

She said she didn’t believe the dire reports sent by Bach during the pandemic negotiations: “The language in his emails, I was like, no way. This is charged language, opinionated words. It cannot be that bad.”

Carlton started to attend negotiations to see for herself. “I heard and saw the way our town talked about teachers and what we do,” she said. “I was watching them and thinking, your child uses special ed! Your child uses special ed and you don’t respect what educators do? Feeling the ugliness. Then they speak out of the other side of their mouths and write these emails about how much they value us.”

Dan Donovan, a fifteen-year science teacher, was reluctant at first to join the strike vote — but changed his mind after he, too, witnessed negotiations. “It was informative to see how our side wanted to discuss and reason and go through things and we were just talking to a stone wall,” said Donovan. “When the School Committee sends out a press release or an email, they say one thing, but when you go to the bargaining session it is clear what is really going on.”

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The School Committee resisted having union members in the room during bargaining — and the room could not hold the one hundred to two hundred members who wanted to attend each time.

While the union could have filed an unfair labor practice charge alleging that the district was not allowing the union to choose its own bargaining team and not meeting in a mutually agreed-upon space, it took an organizing approach instead.

Fifty members sat in the room as negotiations took place. Then the union would call a caucus and meet with those members and more who were in the auditorium next door. After discussion, a new group of fifty members would return, and negotiations would continue. Every time the union called a caucus, new members swapped in.

After one session when the School Committee objected to this swapping, members got more fired up than ever. Bach said enthusiasm was so great, “it was like ‘The Price is Right.’ People were rushing to be the ones to get in the room.”

What moved members to strike? Everyone I spoke to said members witnessing bargaining was central, but what made the most difference was listening.

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Carlton identified members in her building who she knew had had issues with the union in the past. “I just say, ‘Hey, can I talk to you?’ I’m not going to tell them what to do. I am going to listen.”

Beth Arnold, a high-school math teacher who was on the bargaining team, said the creation of communication teams of ten members to one leader in the high school allowed people to engage in more conversations with each other, to hear from voices other than “the loudest,” and not rely just on emails or the word of the leadership.

When she talked with members about the illegality of the strike and their fears, Arnold emphasized that the choice to strike was a shared decision — not one to make alone.

The strike wave among Massachusetts educators started in April 2019 with the Dedham Teachers Association. It was the first teachers strike in Massachusetts since 2007.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that even using the word “strike” constitutes “inducing, encouraging or condoning a work stoppage by public employees.” Union leaders who do so risk fines — personally and as elected leaders — and even jail time.

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The Dedham educators voted to strike on a Thursday, were out one day, and had a tentative agreement in time to return to work Monday. They faced minimal fines.

The Brookline Educators Union struck in May 2022. They were out one day and were willing to pay a $50,000 fine imposed by the school district on the union.

The wave built with Haverhill, Malden, Woburn, and now Andover. Melrose Teacher Association members authorized a strike, but won all they demanded before they could walk out.

Some unions faced fines of up to $50,000 a day; others did not. In Woburn the community held a bake sale to help pay the fine. Some people paid $100 a cookie.

Educators in Massachusetts are not only seeing each other strike and win, but also teaching each others how to do it.

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Barry Davis, president of the Haverhill Teachers Association, which struck in October 2022, says the lessons were first forged in the Merrimack Valley bargaining council, an informal network of six teacher locals that meet regularly to share contract issues and organizing strategies. After the Haverhill and Malden strikes, organizers from those locals reached out to or were contacted by members of other locals.

“We’d go out and talk to members in these locals, and they realized that we were just like them, that there was nothing different about us that made us able to strike,” Davis said. “When you are a third grade teacher with three kids, and a third grade teacher with three kids shows up to tell you how to do this, you realize much more is possible.”

AEA members have been transformed. “I don’t recognize these people,” said Bach shortly after the strike.

Originally Donovan said that he would do anything to support the union, except break the law. Now he says, “I’ve come around. Not all laws are just, and that is an unjust law. Teachers deserve the right to strike for just wages.”





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Massachusetts’ middle-class income range is highest in US., topping out at over $200K

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Massachusetts’ middle-class income range is highest in US., topping out at over 0K


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Your household can earn more than $200,000 a year and still be considered part of the “middle class” in Massachusetts, according to a recent study by SmartAsset.

Massachusetts ranks as the top state with the highest income range for households to be considered middle class, based on SmartAsset’s analysis using 2024 income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households earning roughly two-thirds to twice the national median household income.

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According to a 2022 Gallup survey, about half of U.S. adults consider themselves middle class, with 38% identifying as “middle class” and 14% as “upper-middle class.” Higher-income Americans and college graduates were most likely to identify with the “middle class” or “upper-middle class,” while lower-income Americans and those without a college education generally identified as “working class” or “lower class.”

Here’s how much money your household would need to bring in annually to be considered middle class in Massachusetts.

How much money would you need to make to be considered middle class in MA?

In Massachusetts, households would need to earn between $69,900 and $209,656 annually to be considered middle class, according to SmartAsset. The Bay State has the highest income range in the country for middle-class households. The state’s median household income is $104,828.

In Boston, the range is slightly lower. Households need to earn between $65,194 and $195,582 annually to qualify as middle class, giving the city the 19th-highest income range among the 100 largest U.S. cities. Boston’s median household income is $97,791.

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How do other New England states compare?

Massachusetts has the highest income range for middle-class households in New England. Here’s what households would have to earn in neighboring states:

  1. Massachusetts (#1 nationally) – $69,885 to $209,656 annually; median household income of $104,828
  2. New Hampshire (#6 nationally) – $66,521 to $199,564 annually; median household income of $99,782
  3. Connecticut (#10 nationally) – $64,033 to $192,098 annually; median household income of $96,049
  4. Rhode Island (#17 nationally) – $55,669 to $167,008 annually; median household income of $83,504
  5. Vermont (#19 nationally) – $55,153 to $165,460 annually; median household income of $82,730
  6. Maine (#30 nationally) – $50,961 to $152,884 annually; median household income of $76,442

Which state has the lowest middle-class income range?

Mississippi ranks last for the income range needed to be considered middle class, according to SmartAsset. Households there would need to earn between $39,418 and $118,254 annually. The state’s median household income is $59,127.



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‘No Kings’ protests draw thousands against the Trump administration who are ‘fed up, pissed off, and also hopeful’ – The Boston Globe

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‘No Kings’ protests draw thousands against the Trump administration who are ‘fed up, pissed off, and also hopeful’ – The Boston Globe


Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey altered the lyrics of some songs to criticize Trump and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Let’s ship them out of Boston,” he told the crowd, referring to ICE agents and echoing lyrics from “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” “Are you with us?”

Pressley followed, telling demonstrators the “world is on fire.”

“It is going to take every single one of us doing everything we can to put this fascist, white nationalist fire out,” Pressley said. “The only way to beat a dictator is with defiance.”

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Some of the faces in the crowd at the “No Kings” protest on Boston Common.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
The Dropkick Murphys perform during the protest.Finn Gomez for the Boston Globe

The flagship national demonstration was held in Minneapolis, where US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed in January during a massive federal immigration crackdown that ended last month.

Bruce Springsteen performed “Streets of Minneapolis,” the protest song released after the killing of Pretti with lyrics describing the city as “aflame” under “King Trump’s private army.”

In Massachusetts, organizers staged 169 demonstrations, said Rahsaan D. Hall, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts and emcee for the Boston Common event.

Saturday’s gatherings marked the third time protesters have mobilized under the “No Kings” banner since the first protest last June. Another round of protests took place in October.

Demonstrators gathered as the US war in Iran entered its second month with oil prices surging and Trump declaring victory is at hand even as thousands of additional American troops head to the Middle East.

Within the GOP, congressional leaders are at odds over funding the US Department of Homeland Security, which has been partially shut down since mid-February and has a new leader, Markwayne Mullin. Trump fired his predecessor, Kristi Noem, earlier this month following controversies over her leadership.

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Mihika Gogate, 24, who recently moved to Boston from North Carolina, said she was demonstrating for “absolutely everyone in this world that is suffering at the hands of the decisions of our fascist leader at the moment.”

She carried a sign depicting a Joker playing card featuring Trump with a crown on his head.

“I think, especially now, it’s such a scary time to be an adult in this world,” Gogate said. “It’s not just something that is affecting one of us. It’s affecting all our futures and our current realities.”

Michael Payne, Jean Carroon, and Maxie Chambliss were at the “No Kings” protest on Boston Common.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
The crowd on Boston Common was reflected in the horns of the performers.Finn Gomez for the Boston Globe

In Quincy, demonstrators gathered outside City Hall were encouraged to remain politically active.

“We hate what Donald Trump is doing. I’m tired of being in a state of exhaustion, and he’s bombarding us every day,” said Donna Cunningham, 51, a Quincy resident. “We need events like this to remind ourselves that we’re not alone in our little islands of our homes.”

On Boston Common, Sara Welch filmed the bustle as she walked through the park en route to Cheers. A resident of Hastings, Minn., Welch said she’s in the area for work.

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“It means a lot, especially with everything that went on in our state with ICE,” Welch said.

Yet some questioned whether large demonstrations are generating the changes they seek.

Warren May, a demonstrator from Watertown, said the Women’s March held the day after Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 was the last time he participated in such a large protest.

“That was really kind of great and inspiring and wonderful, but look where we are now,” May said. “It’s just gotten worse.”

John Cluverius, who teaches political science at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, said the mass demonstrations signal to elected Democrats that the opposition to Trump “is real and is tangible.” His popularity has slipped since the last “No Kings” demonstrations in October, he said.

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“Being the party out of power has a very isolating effect on both individuals and voters — the sense that they’re out of control of the destiny of the country,” Cluverius said. “There is almost an affirming effect for people to gather in these places and get the sense that even though they’re opposed to so many things that are happening, they’re not alone.”

There are also signs that the protests are pushing elected officials to answer demonstrators’ demands, Cluverius said.

On Friday, Senate Republicans abandoned vows to resist any deal for Department of Homeland Security funding that did not include money for ICE and US Customs and Border Protection, by voting to do just that.

“Senate Democrats … did not defect in any way, and I think that speaks to the fact that these rallies were today,” Cluverius said.

Several exhibitions on Boston Common brought attention to the impact of Trump’s policies.

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An installation called “Eyes Wide Open — The Cost of War” featured rows of shoes, backpacks, and toys symbolizing the more than 160 children killed at an Iranian school during the opening day of US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

“We hope that this will cause people to pause and consider the humanitarian impact of this war,” said Ziba Cranmer, 54, who belongs to the Massachusetts chapter of the National Iranian American Council.

An ice sculpture reading “END ICE” was carved by artist Kat Carves.

“It’s a very powerful message,” said Lisa Mahoney, 66, of Beverly.

Most Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance as president, according to YouGov polling on behalf of The Economist, which found this month that his net approval rating is at -18 percentage points.

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His deportation agenda, attacks on higher education, and efforts to nationalize elections are deeply unpopular in Massachusetts, which backed his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election.

A February poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found 72 percent of Massachusetts residents disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance, driven largely by fears that he threatens democracy.

Dave Beyna, portraying George Washington, arrived at the protest on Boston Common before it started.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
Protesters sit at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at the “No Kings” Boston rally.Andrew Burke-Stevenson/for The Boston Globe

Changes to the childhood vaccination schedule paused for now by a federal judge in Boston, new eligibility limits to public safety net programs under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, and research funding cuts have also drawn opposition here.

Sonya Shropshire-Friel of Dover, N.H., said her parents protested during the civil rights movement and were arrested as college students in Elizabeth City, N.C.

“I thought if they can do that, I can show up here today,” she said.

Trump’s rhetoric and the actions of his immigration enforcement agents “really make America unsafe,” Shropshire-Friel said.

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“He has made people more inclined to be unkind and cruel toward one another,” she said. “I need to be out here with people who are also fed up, pissed off, and also hopeful.”


Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her @lauracrimaldi. Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com. Aayushi Datta can be reached at aayushi.datta@globe.com.





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First Submarine Named After Massachusetts Joins the Navy Fleet

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First Submarine Named After Massachusetts Joins the Navy Fleet


BOSTON — The USS Massachusetts officially joined the Navy fleet on Saturday after a commissioning ceremony, making it the first submarine named after the Bay State.

The newest Virginia-class fast attack submarine, which can dive to depths greater than 800 feet (240 meters), was christened on May 6, 2023, by the ship’s sponsor, Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Meta. This is the 25th Virginia-Class submarine co-produced by General Dynamics Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding and the fifth U.S. Navy vessel named after Massachusetts.

“To be able to take a ship from new construction and watch it be built together by the ship yard, train with our team and bring into Boston Harbor for the first time, it’s very amazing,” said the sub’s commanding officer, Mike Siedsma, a 21-year Navy veteran who has spent time on four different classes of submarines. “I looked at the history books. I don’t think we’ve had a submarine in Boston Harbor since sometime in the late ’80s or early ’90s.”

Siedsma did not say where the sub — which cost over $2.8 billion, weighs about 8,000 tons and can carry 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles — is headed. A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this month in the war with Iran.

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“The geopolitical situation is very interesting,” Siedsma said. “What is important to remember is what we are doing is proving the power of the United States Navy.”

The crew of 147 also includes 39 women, 16 years after a ban on women serving on submarines was lifted. The USS New Jersey, which was commissioned in 2024, was the first sub designed and built with modifications for a gender-integrated crew.

“The ship is intentionally designed to be served on by both women and men. That is pretty exciting. Twenty five percent of this crew is female,” Sandberg said. “Those sailors just don’t inspire me. They inspire every little girl out there to believe that she could do anything.”

The Navy said this is the fifth vessel to be named after the state. The first USS Massachusetts was a steamer built in 1845 and the last was USS Massachusetts, BB 59, commissioned in 1942 as a South Dakota-class fast battleship. Most of its time was spent in the Pacific during World War II.

For Sandberg, the commissioning also brought to mind the role the state has played in the founding of the United States and how “people are still fighting for the same freedoms that the original colonists were fighting for.”

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Reporters touring the sub were led past the control room, down into the torpedo room and into the dining hall. The ward room, where officers eat, also features a mug rack featuring wood from counties in Massachusetts. It was donated by “This Old House,” the television home improvement show.

“It was an incredible donation. Very great connection to the state and the commonwealth,” Siedsma said. “It’s beautiful.”

© Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



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