Beverly Teachers Strike: Students March, Mayor 'Frustrated'
BEVERLY, MA — As hundreds of students and families joined striking Beverly teachers during a midday march in support of their ongoing contract dispute with the city, Mayor Michael Cahill said on Sunday that “the city cannot afford this price tag” when referring to the Beverly Teachers Association’s wage demands.
Cahill said in his latest update that he was “concerned and frustrated” as the strike that has now spanned parts of three school weeks and that the city is offering the BTA “an incredibly strong and competitive contract.”
He said the city is offering teachers an average raise of $19,140 or 27.2 percent and the paraprofessionals an average raise of $9,851 or almost 43 percent over three years — which amounts to $24.45 million in new spending over three years.
Find out what's happening in Beverlywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
He said the BTA’s proposal would amount to a $39 million increase in school spending during that time.
“Agreeing to this demand would result in layoffs and cuts to essential city and school services,” he said.
Find out what's happening in Beverlywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
BTA co-President Andrea Sherman said Sunday night that the mayor and School Committee are refusing to negotiate in good faith and are “waiting for the courts to punish educators” with escalating contempt fines.
Public sector strikes are illegal in Massachusetts.
“They want to stop the union,” she said. “They don’t care that kids are being hurt.”
Negotiations were set to resume on the 11th day of the strike Monday afternoon at roughly the same time an Essex County judge was set to review the fines that began at $50,000 per day last Wednesday with an increase of $10,000 for each day the classrooms are closed.
Students and families also participated in a support march that Beverly Caregivers Supporting Teachers said it hoped would draw 1,000 or more participants. The march had to be rerouted because of air quality given the smoke from North Shore brush fires that continued to burn on Monday.
Sherman added on the School Committee’s and Cahill’s statement on wages: “Percentages are a really dangerous way to try to under this contract fight because when you start really low that percentage (increase) does not get a paraprofessional to a living wage.”
She said the BTA is pressing a four-year contract that “will allow for people to live and work in the same community.”
“It’s more about a baseline level that’s on par either with our neighboring communities and the living wage calculator,” she said, adding that figure is between $40,000 and $45,000 per year for paraprofessionals.
Cahill urged teachers to return to the classrooms while negotiations continue and said in a direct message to educators: “We absolutely value and respect you.”
Click Here: edinburgh rugby jersey
“To our families,” he said, “I know that this is particularly hard on you and our children.
“We will keep at this under we reach (an) agreement.”
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.