Marblehead Teachers Vote To Strike, Joining Beverly, Gloucester Unions

UPDATED 4 p.m.

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead teachers and school staff joined colleagues in Beverly and Gloucester in declaring a strike with the Marblehead Education Association announcing Friday afternoon that 99 percent of its membership voted to walk out of the classrooms beginning on Tuesday if no agreement is reached this weekend.

"We will remain on strike until fair contracts are reached," the MEA posted on its social media page at about 3:45 p.m.

The MEA had earlier scheduled a news conference following what it termed an "emergency meeting" of membership.

"Our schools are in crisis, and the educators of Marblehead have collectively said, 'Enough is enough,'" MEA President Jonathan Heller said after the vote. "After seven months of negotiations, we are no closer to a solution, and the School Committee has failed to recognize the urgency of the situation. Our schools need fair wages, safe working conditions, and adequate resources to meet the needs of our students.

"Because of their refusal to act, we must take action to protect the future of our community."

The Marblehead School Committee was scheduled to meet in an executive session (closed to the public) at 5:30 p.m. following the strike declaration with a return to open session "not prior to 6 p.m." — meaning the open session could begin after 6 p.m. depending on the length of the executive session.

"The School Committee can end this now," Heller said. "They can work with us and reach a settlement tonight. We are prepared to negotiate around the clock to ensure there is no disruption in our students' education next week."

Beverly and Gloucester teachers both voted to strike on Thursday effective on Friday and were on out on the picket lines Friday morning.

"The MEA has been clear in its bargaining goals: fair wages for all educators; access to modern paid family leave; safe learning and working conditions for students and staff; and proper recess and lunch breaks for elementary students," the MEA said in a statement Friday morning. "The School Committee bargaining team has not been transparent in its dealings with the union or in its communications to the town.

"We need a path forward to settle a fair contract now."

The Marblehead School Committee is seeking an impasse declaration and state mediation help from the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations as it said the district and MEA remain $5 million apart in talks on teacher and school staff contracts.

• '$5 Million' Gap: Marblehead School Committee Seeks State Help In Teacher Contract Dispute

School Committee Bargaining Sub-committee representative Sarah Fox said the union rejected that request at Monday night's bargaining session but that the Committee will proceed with filing the request with the DLR "to help work towards settling a new contract that meets the needs of the union and takes into account the fiscal reality of our town."

The MEA said in a statement Monday night that the latest bargaining session produced "little progress to show" for months of negotiations and blamed the School Committee's unwillingness to seek the funding necessary to present educators and staff with a fair contract for the stalemate.

• Beverly Teachers Strike: Schools Closed As Teachers Hit Picket Lines Friday

School Committee member Sarah Fox's statement on Monday night said that the current MEA proposal would necessitate $9.7 million in new spending over the next four years, with the school budget only expected to have access to $1 million in new spending in each of those four years.

She said the increased spending would require a property tax override with a 15 percent cut in all staff and services at stake if that override does not pass.

Attempts to pass a property tax general override failed a townwide vote in both 2022 and 2023.

(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.)