Gloucester mayor explains middle finger gesture made after tense negotiations with striking teachers

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga apologized for raising his middle finger as he left negotiations between the striking Gloucester teachers and the school committee Thursday night, alleging that he was concerned for his family amid rising tensions and called for unity in the community.

Video sent to Boston 25 News shows Verga flipping the bird outside his window as the crowd showers the convoy exiting West Parish Elementary School with chants of “shame on you.”

Verga said in a video statement that he regrets the crude gesture but that he was concerned for his wife and family at the time. The mayor alleges that while tensions between Gloucester Teacher Association members and the school committee rose outside West Parish School, his wife was also communicating with him, informing Verga that a crowd had begun to gather at their house around the corner.

“She could hear the West Parish demonstrators from our house as well. She said things like she was scared, sick to her stomach and urging me to be careful,” Verga describes.

Verga said the negotiating members of the school district were told to wait inside West Parish for 45 minutes once negotiations concluded for the night so that law enforcement could clear a safe path between to the parking lot. Once he was able to enter his car and begin to roll out of the parking lot, Verga says a former Gloucester public safety official approached his car, shouting at him.

“At this point, my frustrations got the best of me and I responded to the nastiness being hurled at me as I was trying to make my way home to my frightened wife,” Verga said. “The gesture, which I wish I hadn’t done, was directed toward that individual, not the crowd, and certainly not the teachers.”

Verga said he returned home to find his wife in tears and protestors surrounding his home.

“As an elected official and a public figure, I signed up for this, but my wife and our families did not,” the mayor said.

Verga said while he understands how negotiations can lead to heightened tensions, he wants the community to come together to end the teacher strike amicably.

“We all need to do better to solve this crisis, and I intend to lead the way. This is not who we are as a community. Gloucester has always come together in a time of crisis. This is that time,” Verga stated.

Gloucester is one of three North Shore communities in which students are currently being held out of school as teachers strike for new contracts with better pay and other benefits.

The Marblehead Education Association, the Gloucester Teacher Association, and the Beverly Teachers Association have all been slapped with $50,000 fines for not abandoning the strikes and returning to work.

In a Facebook post Thursday, the Gloucester School Committee said negotiations ended prematurely due to the union’s “disruptive event.”

Watch Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga’s full statement below:

Statement from Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga

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