What are the consequences for Massachusetts teacher strikes? Lawyer wants unions to pay families

MARBLEHEAD – While Gloucester students went back to school Monday, Beverly and Marblehead kids were out for the 11th and 10th school days, respectively. Both communities are at a standstill in bargaining as the court orders an independent fact finder to help resolve the labor disputes.

Both unions face hundreds of thousands of dollars in court-ordered fines, as a judge held them in contempt after they engaged in an illegal strike. Union leadership says school committees are not negotiating in good faith. Striking teachers are going without pay, as school committee members say it’s illegal to pay an employee who is on strike.

Public employee strikes illegal in Massachusetts

All public employee strikes are illegal in Massachusetts, due to a law introduced in 1973 after a number of strikes across New Bedford and Franklin in which teachers were arrested. Teachers are not arrested in modern day strikes, but rather, their unions face hefty fines.

“I don’t think that a judge wants to put anybody in jail because you don’t necessarily want to make a martyr out of somebody who might not deserve martyr status,” said Glenn Koocher, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.

In a press conference Monday afternoon, members of the Marblehead school committee accused the simultaneous strikes in three North Shore communities as being coordinated by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the statewide educators union.

“In this case it is clear that the statewide MTA is coordinating these strikes,” said Jenn Schaeffner, co-chairperson of the Marblehead School Committee. 

“Well, I don’t believe there’s any evidence that this is part of a statewide conspiracy, but I can tell that it is unusual that three school districts in the same area would all strike at the same time, use some of the same talking points,” Koocher added. “This significantly disrupts the welfare of children of all ages, and it’s never good not to be in school.”

Lawyer wants union to pay parents after strikes

A Chicago-based attorney is currently trying to change to outcome of teachers’ strikes through lawsuits. Daniel Suhr of Hughes and Suhr Law represents multiple Newton parents in a lawsuit against the Newton Teachers Association for individual damages (childcare, work missed, and more) form the winter 2024 strike that lasted 11 days in Newton. He has four other active similar cases across the country.

“I think the lesson the unions took from Newton is, we can break the law and still make a lot of money,” Suhr said. “That if we make a $53 million collective bargaining agreement, but only pay a half a million dollars in fines, well, if we don’t care what the law is, that’s just profit.”

Suhr alleges that making the unions pay penalties to parents would deter future strikes.

“We want to stop this from happening again,” he said. “Clearly the system is broken. These injunctions from judges are not being respected by the unions. And so, our hope is that a real financial disincentive which is paying these parents and students for the damage they’re causing will finally put an end to this.”

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