Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Teachers at several North Shore schools held a series of work-to-rule protests on Friday morning.
Teachers gathered outside the classrooms before the first bell followed by a united walk-in once the school day officially began. The North Shore Educators United said in a statement that more than 99% of its members voted to authorize the protest, which included teacher associations in Beverly, Revere, Marblehead, and Gloucester.
A work-to-rule protest means teachers will not take on extra responsibilities that are not specified in their collective bargaining agreement.
Marblehead educators commenced their work-to-rule protest on Wednesday, Oct. 2 while Beverly, Revere, and Gloucester communities held theirs on Friday, Oct. 3.
According to the Gloucester Teachers Association (GTA), teachers are overworked and overwhelmed taking on these extra responsibilities.
“Most teachers work between a 40, 45 hour week, maybe 50 hour week,” Beth Parkhurst, a fifth-grade teacher at West Parish Elementary and a GTA representative, told WBZ NewsRadio. “They don’t get their prep time, so they have to come early and stay late after school in order to get their paper work done, get their lessons done, and do the things they need to do,” Parkhurst added.
Educator unions said their previous contracts expired months ago and have been negotiating with their respective school committees since February, fighting for smaller class sizes, paid parental leave, longer lunch and recess time, and a living wage for all staff.
“We feel like we’re not being listened to, [and] we feel like we’re being put off and stalled,” Parkhurst said.
In a statement, the Gloucester School Committee said they were “blindsided” by the decision to protest because “negotiations are proceeding at a pace similar to prior teacher contract negotiations.” They added that the committee met with GTA just last week and disputed any claim made by the GTA about stalled negotiations.
In Beverly, the Beverly School Committee said they were aware of the protest and reassured the community that it will not impact regular school days.
“We understand the members who reached this decision believe this action will help raise awareness to their campaign,” the Beverly School Committee said in a statement. “However, we also know that our educators remain committed to our students and school community.”
They added that the bargaining team continues to work in good faith with the Beverly Teachers Association to reach a contract deal that is fair to all educators and staff within the city’s budget.
Meanwhile, Parkhurst said that work-to-rule protest will continue until a better contract is reached.
WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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