Why it's illegal for teachers to strike in Mass. (and why they're doing it anyway)

The Newton teachers strike has dragged on into a 10th day of closed schools even though such strikes are illegal in Massachusetts. As a result, the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) owes nearly $600,000 in fines as of Thursday and will owe $50,000 more each day the strike continues.

While the NTA’s strike over failed contract negotiations is reported to be the longest strike the state has seen since the 1990s, it is not an anomaly. In recent years, teachers’ unions in Andover, Malden, Brookline, Woburn and Haverhill in similar collective bargaining ruts have organized strikes and faced fines.

• Read more: Striking Newton teacher hospitalized after hit by car near union rally spot

Even so, the highest dollar amount leveled against any of them was $110,000, and that was against the Haverhill teachers union, according to The Boston Globe. Thus, both the length of the strike and the fines against the NTA are unprecedented in Massachusetts as of the 21st century.

Here’s a breakdown of the issue:

What the law says about teacher strikes

The law that makes it illegal for Massachusetts public school teachers to strike does not single out teachers.

A part of Massachusetts General Laws, the relevant section reads: “No public employee or employee organization shall engage in a strike, and no public employee or employee organization shall induce, encourage or condone any strike, work stoppage, slowdown or withholding of services by such public employees.”

This is the norm across the country, with only 13 states allowing public school teachers to strike, according to EducationWeek.

• Read more: Newton teachers strike fines approach $600K as school canceled for 10th day

The law that made public employee strikes illegal was passed in 1973, according to The Boston Globe. But making public employee strikes illegal was just one part of the law.

Overall, the law wasn’t a loss for unions — it was a boon, Massachusetts Association of School Committees Executive Director Glenn Koocher told MassLive. Public employees had the right to unionize before the law, but the legislation formalized the collective bargaining process, as well as the process of forming a union.

“It created a framework under which collective bargaining could go on, so then everyone could begin to organize,” he said.

What happens if teachers strike anyway?

When a union representing public school teachers implements a strike, to take action against them, a school district must ask the state’s employee relations board to determine whether a strike is actually happening. If the board determines a strike is happening, it then asks a judge to order them back to work, and the order is typically granted.

If the union doesn’t stop striking after it is ordered to by a judge, the judge can hold it in contempt of the court order and implement fines as he or she sees fit. Importantly though, the judge is supposed to consider many factors when deciding how punitive the fines will be, such as whether the school district is bargaining in good faith, according to The Boston Globe.

• Read more: Dropkick Murphys cover pro-union song in support of striking Newton teachers

In recent years, fines are the only punishment teachers’ unions have faced for striking, Koocher said. Even so, a judge is permitted to implement other sanctions against them.

In the 1970s, the leaders of the teachers’ unions were often jailed for weeks during strikes, according to The Boston Globe. In one case in 1977, about 80 Franklin teachers were jailed during a two-week strike.

Why the state has a stake in prohibiting public employee strikes

When public employees go on strike, there’s no one to provide vital services, such as policing or firefighting, Koocher said. In the case of teachers’ strikes, children may be left at home alone if parents cannot arrange for supervision during school hours.

The students can also experience learning loss ahead of important tests, Koocher said. “If you’ve been out of school for two weeks during the prime learning period, you’re not going to get to a lot of the material that is being tested.”

• Read more: National Education Association president cheers on striking Newton teachers

Additionally, under state law, school districts are required to provide students with 180 days of school by June 30. If a strike goes on too long, the district may need to extend the school year into July, but that can only happen if the state education department grants a waiver.

Why teachers choose to strike anyway

Teachers strike when they feel they have no other way of getting municipal leaders to address important issues affecting the school district, Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) President Max Page said. In the case of the recent strikes, the unions had been negotiating a new contract for months or even years because district leaders weren’t agreeing to some of the unions’ core demands.

“In Newton, it’s been 16 months of negotiations. That’s far, far too long to actually just settle a contract,” he said. “They felt like they did not have a fair bargaining partner.”

• Read more: 5 things to know about the monetary impact of the Newton teachers’ strike

Page also pointed out that the MTA has 400 local chapters, and of those, only six have gone on strike in the past few years. Furthermore, most of those strikes resulted in the parties resolving the contract disagreements within a few days, he said.

“It’s an extreme action that members never imagine taking,” Page said. “But clearly, some members, in overwhelming numbers, decided ‘This is what we have to do to have the schools that our students deserve.’”

Ultimately, while a strike may negatively impact students, the teachers feel that the short-term loss is acceptable if it leads to the district implementing changes that will impact the long-term success of the students, Page said. One example of this is the NTA refusing to compromise on the issue of hiring a social worker for every school in the Newton school district.

Why have there been more teacher strikes in Massachusetts lately?

Teachers have felt the need for change in their districts more urgently as society has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and the learning loss and the toll on students’ social and emotional well-being has been realized, Page said. It’s one reason longstanding issues such as better compensation for educational support staff have been coming to the forefront of contract negotiations, he said.

“There’s been a feeling that the educators worked heroically, risking their own lives and making sure that students can continue their education. And so, they have, perhaps, less patience for not addressing the issues that they consider so important for their school,” Page said.

• Read more: Newton teachers’ strike closes schools for 9th straight day

But Koocher pointed out that the strikes coincide with a resurgence of union power across the country in recent years. Union leadership in general has become more aggressive, he said.

How the law could change

The MTA has backed a bill that would make strikes legal for public sector employees after six months of negotiations, with the exception of public safety employees.

“I believe that there needs to be a level playing field between labor and management,” state Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, D-27th Middlesex, a co-sponsor of the bill, told Boston.com. “To me, this fundamental right not existing in the public sector results in these really challenging circumstances that we’re finding ourselves in today.”

• Read more: Newton teachers’ strike update: City Council prez claims ‘considerable progress’

But many stakeholders don’t support this change. Teachers’ unions should not use striking as a means of getting officials to capitulate to their demands, Boston University Joshua Goodman told BU Today. Instead, those changes should be implemented through the democratic process, and unions can make that happen by convincing communities to elect public officials who support their positions, he said.

Additionally, Gov. Maura Healey told WBZ-TV last year that she doesn’t support legalizing teacher strikes. While she empathizes with the teachers, she said it’s “paramount” that children remain in school.