2 striking teacher unions in Massachusetts face growing fines for refusing to return to classroom

BOSTON — Two of the three striking teacher unions in Massachusetts have been fined for refusing to return to the classroom.

Judges on Tuesday imposed fines of $50,000 a day for the unions in Beverly and Gloucester that would rise by $10,000 a day as long as they remain on strike. The unions voted Nov. 7 to authorize a strike and schools were closed Friday. Schools remain closed in those districts.

A third district, Marblehead, voted to go on strike Tuesday. It was brought to court Wednesday and could also face similar fines.

Strikes by teachers are rare in Massachusetts, partly because state law bans public sector employees from striking.

The Beverly Teachers Association has said they were pushing for smaller class sizes in the 4,500-student district, 12 weeks of paid parental leave and a ''living wage'' for paraprofessionals or teachers assistant whose starting salary is $20,000.

On Thursday, Julia Brotherton and Andrea Sherman, co-presidents of the Beverly Teachers Association, said in a statement that the fines were expected.

''We have long believed that the school committee was stalling and delaying while waiting for fines to be assessed in order to punish us,'' they said in a statement. ''These fines will not break our resolve; our students deserve better, and we deserve better.''

Julia Brotherton and Andrea Sherman, co-presidents of the Beverly Teachers Association

In Gloucester, the union in the 2,800-student district has asked for eight weeks of fully paid parental leave, two weeks at 75% and two weeks at 50%. It also wants significant pay increases for paraprofessionals, safer conditions for students and more prep time for elementary school teachers.

The last time teachers went on strike was earlier this year in Newton, a Boston suburb where an 11-day strike ended after the two sides reached an agreement. The Newton strike was the sixth teachers strike in the state since 2022 and the longest.

A judge fined the teachers association in Newton more than $600,000 for violating the state's ban on strikes by public workers and threatened to double daily fines to $100,000 if they failed to reach an agreement when they did. The union paid half of the fines to the city and half to the state.

The two sides in that strike agreed to a cost-of-living increase of about 13% over four years for teachers, pay hikes for classroom aides and 40 days of fully paid family leave.