NORTH SHORE — School is canceled once again for thousands of students on the North Shore Wednesday as a teacher strike continues in three different districts.
“We’re at the front end of an open-ended strike,” said Robert Hillman, an attorney representing the Beverly School Committee. “You have three school strikes in front of you on the same day, this isn’t just a coincidence.”
It was an unprecedented moment inside Essex County Superior Court Tuesday as a judge decides whether to impose fines on three different teachers’ unions all on strike at the same time.
“This is a bargaining tactic, this is something that these unions are doing they’re coming to strike, they walk through the door knowing the fines are coming,” said Hillman to the judge Tuesday.
Teachers in Gloucester, Beverly, and Marblehead are all on strike, forcing schools to close Tuesday and now Wednesday as well.
Teachers are pushing for better pay and other benefits, but their school committees argue these strikes are illegal in Massachusetts.
“The fines also have to be substantial enough that they are coerced into compliance,” said Lan Kantany, an attorney representing the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board.
The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board along with the school committees in Gloucester and Beverly asked a judge to fine the unions 50,000 dollars if they don’t return to work with an escalating fee each day.
Their attorneys argue the fines were too low for the Newton teachers’ strike in January that went on for eleven days, the longest teacher strike in state history.
“Strikes previous to that where the amount was what we’re asking for now, 50,000 with the 10,000 dollar escalator, those worked, those stopped the strikes within one or two days,” said Kantany.
Lawyers for the teacher’s unions argue those fines are way too high, and that the court should let the mediation process continue.
“These fines are supposed to be coercive and not punitive; they are not supposed to drain the entire treasury of the union within a couple of days,” said Jennifer MacDougall, attorney for the Gloucester teachers’ union.
The judge will likely decide on these fines by Wednesday morning for the unions in Gloucester and Beverly.
Meanwhile, the Marblehead School Committee is expected to argue the same issue in court on Wednesday afternoon if the strike continues.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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