Striking teachers in Gloucester and Beverly set to face $50,000 fines

Teachers in two of the three striking North Shore school districts are set to face fines after an Essex Superior Court judge’s ruling.

The Gloucester Teacher Association and the Beverly Teachers Association are both slated to be fined $50,000 because their strikes were not over by the imposed deadline of 6:00 p.m. Wednesday night.

The Gloucester Association of Educational Paraprofessionals (GAEP) was also fined $15,000 after missing the 6 p.m. deadline to return to work, in accordance with the judge’s ruling.

The fines will increase incrementally by $10,000 each additional school day that the strike continues.

Teachers in the two communities and Marblehead have been striking since the end of last week, forcing schools in the three communities to be closed on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Gloucester and Marblehead have canceled classes for Thursday. Beverly has not yet made a decision.

They are pushing for better pay and other benefits, but their school committees argue these strikes are illegal in Massachusetts.

The strike in Beverly, called late last week, affects some 4,600 students. Teachers want better pay and better parental and family leave benefits.

“You’re offered a limited number of weeks that are paid through the district but any additional time beyond the three weeks is unpaid,” said Raechel Blinderman, school adjustment counselor at Beverly High School. “So you would need to use your accrued sick time. If you don’t have any sick time left, then you are taking off time unpaid and that’s really, really hard for our teachers.”

When the family leave law was passed in 2018, the state legislature omitted municipal employees from the automatic benefit. Instead, it’s something that has to be negotiated at contract time.

Blinderman said this is especially hard on teachers because theirs is a profession constantly exposed to germs.

“Kids get sick, teachers get sick and we really need that time at home with our families,” she said.

Coming out in support of the teachers quest for better family leave benefits -- four students in the system: three from Beverly High School and one from the middle school. At Wednesday’s really, each called on the town to settle things in the teachers favor.

“Why do teachers have to fight tooth and nail to get fair pay... to get maternity leave... to get tuition reimbursement,” said Maddie Young, who identified herself as the valedictorian of Beverly High’s Class of 2025. “Over the years I’ve had teachers bring life into the world. Yet none of them have gotten the time off necessary to recover from the physical toll. Miss Orr, my beloved tenth grade English teacher, got a mere 28 days of maternity leave before coming back to school.”

On the other side of Beverly High, seniors prepared on their own for the annual Powderpuff flag football game, in which girls from Salem and Beverly compete. Members of the boys football team filled in for the striking coach.

Giavanna Pasquarelli said she’s not missing being in school, but supports the teachers.

“I’m happy the teachers are doing this,” she said. “I think they deserve to get more money.”

Powderpuff teammate Ava Connon agreed.

“”They deserve to be compensated for the work they put in,” she said.

“I think they definitely deserve better pay,” said Emma Ouellette. “I don’t think it’s really fair what they’re going through. It does affect the students negatively being out of school, but the teachers deserve a lot better.”

Ouellette said she’s using the timer off not only to get ready for the Powderpuff -- but also to pick up more work hours and do some chores she’s pushed off for a while.

Maverick Genest, one of the fill-in coaches, said the girls are looking good on the field and thinks they’ll win.

“We’re coaching up the girls, running plays,” he said. “It’s keeping us busy during the strike. I mean I’d rather be in school to be totally honest. It’s nice to sleep in but other than that, I’d rather be in school with my friends and learning.”

The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board along with the school committees in Gloucester and Beverly asked a judge to impose the $50,000 fine in Essex County Superior Court Tuesday. Lawyers for the teacher’s unions argued the 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 striking Gloucester teachers are expected to speak shortly after the imposed deadline of the fine.

The Marblehead Education Association, which has not had any fines imposed against them as of yet, is also expected to provide an update Wednesday night.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Teachers in two of the three striking North Shore school districts are face fines if they don’t stop their strike