Danvers To Ratify New Educator Collective-Bargaining Agreement

DANVERS, MA — At a time when collective-bargaining negotiations between teachers' unions and school committees are increasingly challenging and contentious over the issues of wages, family leave and classroom safety and support, the Danvers School Committee and Danvers Teachers Associations have bucked that trend with a new four-year deal expected to be ratified on Friday morning.

DTA President Kathleen Murphy told Patch on Thursday that while the bargaining in that town was far from easy, and included hard discussions on the same issues facing many other North Shore towns with expiring teacher contracts, the understanding of each other's perspectives and commitment to reach a deal helped the sides find a solution.

She said the final breakthrough came during a five-hour, 20-minute negotiating session last Thursday.

"We had a break during that meeting it was: 'Do we want to continue?'" she said. "Both sides were like: 'Yes, we're doing this.' There was a certain amount of determination to get it done. In the end, it was about mutual respect."

Murphy said the deal amounted to a 13 percent raise over four years along with improvements to family leave and general working conditions at the schools.

"We compromised," she said. "It wasn't like they gave us everything we wanted. It was a general desire to meet us halfway."

School Committee Chair Gabe Lopes shared similar sentiments in an email to Patch on Thursday morning.

"Most importantly, we are very happy to have come to an agreement prior to the expiration of the existing contract," Lopes said. "That was a priority. From our side, we made it clear that we understand the role that teachers play is critical and it is valued — before negotiations, during negotiations and after negotiations. The key to a successful negotiation is ending up with an agreement that both sides can feel good about not only when it is signed, but after a year, two years and three years.

"Did we give more than we wanted to give? Yes. Did the union get as much as they had hoped to get? No. Both sides negotiated in good faith and came away with an agreement that demonstrates the high value we place on our teachers, yet does not result in significant structural challenges down the road. We are pleased to put this behind us."

Murphy credited the influence of Superintendent Dan Bauer on the negotiations in finding creative ways to meet the teachers' needs while reaching a deal that the town and school budget could handle.

"We made it clear that the old 2-2-2 (cost-of-living wage increases) wasn't going to work this time," Murphy said. "In the end, it always does come down to money. That was the key and it was tough. We met 10 times on this. But we were able to work through our differences, find a middle ground and get it done.

"None of us are getting rich here. But it's good for the district for teachers to be well-paid. It's good for students to have a staff that is compensated fairly because the morale is good."

She noted that while the DTA was part of the North Shore coalition of unions that has tried to speak with a unified voice on key issues with many districts negotiating new deals this spring and summer "each individual local union is working with each individual school committee. We are certainly all asking for the same things. But each town is different."

She said she is hoping that funding from the new state "millionaire's tax" can go to help other cities and towns provide the same benefits as those realized in Danvers where a strong commercial tax base can be used to offset pressure on property taxes.

"We had two big things going in our favor — attitude, tone and mutual respect going into this thing, plus the fact that Danvers does have some resources."

DTA members were voting to ratify the tentative deal throughout the day on Thursday with the School Committee set to ratify it during a special session Friday morning.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)