Submitted by my_couch360 t3_10szdby in massachusetts
What are everyone's thoughts on the strike and the mayor's response?
Comments
pillbinge t1_j74kljo wrote
Why is it selfish - any more than someone negotiating for their salary at a private company?
ChainmailleAddict t1_j74oehw wrote
I don't know anything about the mayor's response, but when workers protest injustice, everyone wins.
CoffeeContingencies t1_j74q126 wrote
And they will be made up. 180 days is the law
Quick-Marionberry-34 t1_j74yqhz wrote
Good for them 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏. Give the teachers fair working conditions!
dhoffer82 t1_j7544iz wrote
Please post Mayors response
jp_jellyroll t1_j75676i wrote
>Mayor Gavin called the strike "disrespectful" to parents and taxpayers.
>
>"We’re working hard to get this done," the mayor said. "Teachers need to get back in the classroom where they belong and stop breaking the law.”
What a dick bag.
niknight_ml t1_j7593km wrote
I know that they're only asking to raise paraprofessional salary from $22k to $27k, but they really deserve double it. As someone who has spent the last 15 years teaching, they are an absolutely indispensable resource that do amazing work.
The-Shattering-Light t1_j75iprb wrote
He also publicly said to teachers “you’re all replaceable”, and has been showing up to negotiations over an hour late, and walking out early.
And he won’t directly negotiate, instead makes a representative act as an intermediary, talking to the teachers union then going to fill him in
DanieXJ t1_j75tnbv wrote
Except for the students who aren't learning, the parents whose lives are being twisted around, and whatever other departments Woburn will cut to pay the hijacker..... the teachers.
Sure, everyone definitely seems to be winning....
Oh, has anyone seen that "rising tide" anywhere too?
DanieXJ t1_j75u1ap wrote
He's an ass, they're overreaching.
He'll lose next time around, and soon the Woburn library, senior center, and rec department will get some big cuts to give the teachers whatever money they want.
[deleted] t1_j763v9p wrote
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funsk8mom t1_j7685og wrote
Although I know what they’re doing is illegal, it’s about time we start noticing that teachers and especially paraprofessionals don’t make a living wage. And the conditions some schools function under are absolutely ridiculous.
The teachers I work with are always saying there’s no way they could do my job as a para. After taxes and required money is taken from my check I’m basically earning $13 an hour. I couldn’t afford to finish college and get my teaching degree so I’m doing the next best thing by being a para. I still can’t afford college for myself and now panicking on how I’m going to send my kids
ChainmailleAddict t1_j76dws3 wrote
Oh no, students miss a few days of school while learning a valuable lesson about strikes! SO horrible!
Are you a billionaire, or do you just have a hard-on for union-busting?
Quick-Marionberry-34 t1_j76g9oe wrote
Yep I've been teaching for 16 years. You can not live on that salary, they're grossly underpaid for the work they do.
Beantownbrews t1_j76glb9 wrote
What teachers are paid is disrespectful.
mrlolloran t1_j76hvzs wrote
I don’t know how it works where you live but here in Woburn we don’t vote on salaries through a referendum.
[deleted] t1_j76ibvy wrote
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jimfaul t1_j76icqc wrote
Teachers don’t get paid enough good for them. Schools should be federally funded so every school gets a even playing field. We have created a class system where the rich towns ends up with better schools.
bostonguy2004 t1_j76jk62 wrote
Yup, Paraprofessionals, or "Teacher's Aides", only get paid $22,000 starting in Woburn.
Anyone know what starting Teachers make there?
The-Shattering-Light t1_j76l44v wrote
The low end of teacher pay is just over $50k
Beantownbrews t1_j76l61k wrote
My mother was a teachers aid in a special needs classroom. This was a long while ago, but it still holds true. Underpaid work, and it could be physically and emotionally brutal work. Plus, you don’t want just anyone in that role. You need someone who knows what they are doing. How do you get and keep that paying so low?
The people who do that work are saints. The pay rate would make them martyrs.
kobeyashidog t1_j76n1ia wrote
Each day I hear something in the mayor and I like that man less than who vile hates the grinch he sounds like the absolute worst
SunComprehensive6960 t1_j76p02r wrote
As someone who was considering buying a house and starting a family in Woburn, this makes me reconsider. You get better teachers with better pay. Good teachers are going to leave to a better respected district.
Bearawesome t1_j76uppg wrote
All the teachers contracts are public record if you Google "(district) teacher contract" you can find the salaries. I found it yesterday but not right now. The algorithm is swamped by the strike.
But If I remember it correctly to make the 85k the people against the strike are whining about. You have to be a teacher for 8 years with a masters.
Bearawesome t1_j76uwgy wrote
That's not how it works, not how it works at all.
tashablue t1_j7773xe wrote
In Massachusetts?
Current-Photo2857 t1_j777gcs wrote
Do you vote on the town budget?
monkey_doodoo t1_j77jkst wrote
exactly. right now there is such a shortage of teachers, people can move around to other districts that pay better, etc. I've been teaching for a good amount of time and I have never seen the turn over I am seeing right now. veteran teachers leaving for better districts, young teachers quitting mid year leaving the profession completely and so forth.
as for the paras, their pay is a joke. we have had one para positions for a few years. the pay they get is just horrible. sadly a lot of the open para positions are in sped rooms, so some of our neediest kids aren't getting what they need.
GezinhaDM t1_j799ruj wrote
Wow! I could've written this comment myself. I'm a para and I've been trying for years to get someone in the district to pay for my last 3 classes. The district doesn't understand that I can't pay now to get money back later bc I don't even make enough to get 2K together.
Meanwhile, they're hiring teachers from overseas and paying those teachers 29k of living expenses. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for hiring people anywhere and I'm an immigrant myself, but seriously, they can't give me 2K to finish my degree???
DanieXJ t1_j79hbrr wrote
Ah, the sweet downvotes of the butthurt.... 🙄
Just wait until all the Woburn residents are carrying on about the override that'll need to happen in a couple of years....
[deleted] t1_j7bltxr wrote
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The-Shattering-Light t1_j7brail wrote
“That’s them volunteering their time,” no it’s not.
[deleted] t1_j7bt8pu wrote
The-Shattering-Light t1_j7bu3hc wrote
It’s not “tacitly illegal,” in fact once teachers have accepting doing something outside their contract, it’s illegal for them to stop doing it.
[deleted] t1_j7bulfn wrote
The-Shattering-Light t1_j7bv9mu wrote
Section 9A;
“1) Service as a Condition of Employment
“Conditions of employment are defined as “not only those duties specifically mentioned in an existing or recently expired collective bargaining agreement (or personnel policies in effect for more than one year), but also those practices not unique to individual employees which are intrinsic to the position or which have been performed by employees as a group on a consistent basis over a sustained period of time.”[657] “
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The-Shattering-Light t1_j7ce54n wrote
No chance of being able to document?
You’re making arguments about things you clearly don’t understand.
Teacher’s run student clubs. Teachers stay after to help students. They answer emails after hours, do class planning after hours, grade after hours.
These are all things for which footprints exist in great numbers
[deleted] t1_j7cg348 wrote
The-Shattering-Light t1_j7cgvg8 wrote
I’ll trust teachers union lawyers over your attempts to rationalize, thanks!
[deleted] t1_j74f06d wrote
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