The Marblehead Public Schools and Marblehead Education Association (MEA) bargaining committees met Tuesday to discuss teacher contract negotiations.
According to a press release, the MEA presented a new wage proposal, which the School Committee’s bargaining subcommittee rejected entirely without making a counterproposal.
“Members were frustrated and insulted with the lack of respect shown by members of the committee tonight,” MEA co-president Sally Shevory said.
Co-president Jonathan Heller said they “demand the committee bargain in good faith and start prioritizing the educators and students in this town.”
After the session, the MEA bargaining committee released a video on Facebook, stating their disappointment in the School Committee’s actions and enacting a work-to-rule order.
“Our schools are in crisis, and we need a partner to solve it,” the statement said. “Therefore, we are enacting a work-to-rule, effective tomorrow, to urge the School Committee to return to the table in good faith to reach an agreement to help our students and educators.”
The two committees have been bargaining since March and have held 12 negotiating sessions so far.
“We have gone back and forth, obviously multiple times, and we are still negotiating,” Marblehead School Committee Chair Jennifer Schaeffner said. “But we are apart on various items, particularly around the finances, and so we on the School Committee side and the bargaining committee side continue to bargain in good faith.”
Schaeffner said the School Committee is mostly concerned about the financial aspects of the negotiations, as she is unsure whether the town has sufficient funds to support it.
“Our revenues are growing at a snail’s pace, and our expenses continue to go up,” Schaeffner said. “Our employees are negotiating in good faith for higher wages, and we need to balance that.”
The union and bargaining subcommittees hope to make significant progress soon and reach an agreement that will support students and staff in Marblehead.
The next bargaining session is Oct. 21, and the sessions will remain closed to the public.
