Marblehead Schools, Custodians 'Far Apart' In Negotiations
MARBLEHEAD, MA — The latest collective bargaining session between the Marblehead School Committee Bargaining Subcommittee and the Marblehead Education Association produced little progress toward a deal for custodians as the sides remained “far apart” on a number of issues, according to School Committee member Sarah Fox.
Fox said in a statement on Tuesday night that the six hours of talks focused on the custodians’ contract, which expired on June 30.
“The Subcommittee was hopeful both parties would be able to reach a consensus after presenting a package proposal,” Fox said. “However, the six-hour meeting did not result in an agreement.
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“The parties remain far apart on a number of areas, including wages and paid leaves.”
The custodian talks are part of the overall negotiations with the MEA, whose contract for teachers expires at the end of August.
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The MEA released a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying that while the union’s bargaining team “reported a positive shift in the discussions by the end of the evening,” the union did “express frustration when the Committee opened the session with a package proposal that failed to address many of the issues the union expected to discuss — including a wage proposal for custodians that was just one-half percent above the previous offer and would increase custodial starting pay by just 87 cents per hour over the next three years.
“A big part of the frustration is that it feels like the School Committee hasn’t been listening or making an effort to understand our proposals, “We’ve had to spend a lot of time educating them on the issues and why we need the solutions we’ve put on the table in all of our contracts.”
“We came to bargaining with modifications to our proposals which addressed very specific concerns shared by the Committee in our previous sessions, but they weren’t interested in discussing them or making any counter proposals (Tuesday) night,” added Sally Shevory, Glover School teacher and MEA co-president.
The negotiations were the first since the School Committee this week officially named Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer as a party in the bargaining sessions. Kezer had requested to participate in the talks given their impact on the finances of a town struggling to deal with a structural deficit.
There are no more bargaining sessions currently scheduled for July with the next ones set for Aug. 13 and Aug. 20.
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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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