Teachers rally amidst school's contract dispute
Published on February 21st, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - Joined by area educators, members of the Stoneham Teachers Association (STA) held a rally outside the high school last Thursday to advocate for a quick settlement of stalled contract negotiations.
The Thursday night gathering, held just prior to another round of collective bargaining deliberations with the School Committee, featured a press conference in which a number of officers from regional teachers' unions urged school officials to place a fair and reasonable offer on the table.
According to a prepared statement issued last week by the STA, union presidents from Malden, Woburn, Reading, Winchester and Wakefield all spoke in favor of the local educators' cause.
"I support my brothers and sisters in the Stoneham Teachers Association in their fight for a fair contract," Reading Teachers Association President Stanley Quinlan said.
"No one enters the teaching profession because they are expecting a huge paycheck. They join because they want to make a difference in a child's life," Quinlan added. "It is time for the school committee to recognize the teachers' hard work and resolve this contract dispute."
In an phone interview this week, after last week's rally, STA President Marlene McArdle claimed that the School Committee is attempting to balance the town's fiscal woes on the backs of the town's teachers.
According to the STA President, despite a number of mediation sessions held between both sides, the contract talks have largely failed in recent weeks, with school officials refusing to pitch a reasonable salary increase in exchange for health insurance concessions.
As an example, the union officer indicated that if the School Committee's current contract proposal was accepted by the collective bargaining unit, she would actually suffer a net loss in pay because of alterations to required health insurance contributions.
"We're going nowhere, absolutely nowhere," vented McArdle, who emphasized that Stoneham educators have been working without a contract since last June.
"Last year, they increased our copays without taking it through the unions, which was illegal. So now we go into negotiations and they've already upped our copay," the Stoneham teacher added. "They are still looking to fund our pay increases by having us pay more health insurance. And by doing that, it's really not a pay increase at all."
Reached for comment early Tuesday evening, School Supt. Dr. Joseph Connelly refused to address any details of the ongoing contract talks. However, Connelly insisted that the School Committee is extremely concerned that a deal hasn't be reached to date and that the educational board hopes to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
At the same time, the Superintendent also pointed out that the town's resources are limited at this point, with a number of very significant layoffs and program reductions being proposed for next year - should the system be faced with a predicted $1.8 million shortfall.
"You're getting into a discussion that's clearly associated with ongoing negotiations. It would be inappropriate for me to talk about that," the Superintendent responded, when asked to comment on McArdle's impression of the current contract proposal being offered.
"They're working without a contract and we are very concerned about that. The School Committee is going to do everything in their power to resolve that," Connelly furthered.
According to McArdle, the towns' workers on both the municipal and school sides recognize that Stoneham is in a very precarious financial situation.
During several joint meetings over the summer, Stoneham's various collective bargaining units addressed that issue, and agreed to press for a reasonable pay increase that wouldn't strain budgets too much.
However, the STA President argued that town officials are pressing for too many concessions, particularly related to health insurance, without attempting to balance those changes with an equitable pay increase.
McArdle also contended that local officials should have been better prepared to address Stoneham's ongoing budgetary woes.
"The town knew this was going to happen, they just never had a plan. They've had three-years to prepare for this," said McArdle. "It shouldn't be a surprise to the town fathers that we want a raise."
"We do have an 85-15 split in health insurance [with the town paying the larger share]," the union president said of the current health insurance structure. "But other communities that have a 75-25 split get paid more than us. Stoneham's teachers are already terribly underpaid."
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