Worcester educators union says school committee has walked away from bargaining table, plans to rally over expired contracts during COVID pandemic
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
The union says the Worcester School Committee has walked away from the bargaining table.
“The Worcester School Committee, Superintendent Maureen Binienda and their bargaining representative have caused unnecessary delays in bargaining successor contracts with EAW members,” the union wrote in a statement Wednesday. “At a scheduled bargaining session on Jan. 26, the School Committee’s bargaining team simply refused to show up. This is both disrespectful to hard-working educators and harmful to students.”
Union members plan to rally outside city hall from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Members will wear masks and keep a distance, the statement said.
Worcester Teachers Say They re Being Forced to Choose Between Health and Paycheck
Educators in Worcester, Massachusetts, are faced with a difficult decision.
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The school committee and superintendent have laid out the district s plans to go back to school for hybrid learning next month – with teachers and staff still not eligible for the vaccine. It is forcing teachers and staff to choose between their health and a paycheck, said Worcester teacher Keri Boisclair at Thursday night s school committee meeting. Worcester being as large as it is, it s impossible to meet all of the needs of everybody, and the age of the buildings is a major concern, Mary O Donnell, who teaches English in the seventh and eighth grades.
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The state’s announcement this past week that school staff would have to wait farther back in line for COVID-19 vaccinations was slammed by local educator unions, and is making some school officials rethink school reopening timelines that hinged on teachers being inoculated.
The region’s largest teachers union, meanwhile, is digging its heels in on an issue that previously had not been the deal-breaker for a return to in-person classes.
“We’ve heard from lots more members – they do want the vaccine before they return,” said Roger Nugent, president of the Educational Association of Worcester, which earlier this month had identified upgrades of school building ventilation systems as its main priority for going back.