BEVERLY — Beverly teachers voted Thursday to go on strike “effective immediately” over stalled contract negotiations.
Beverly Teachers Association Co-President Julia Brotherton announced the strike in front of hundreds of cheering teachers on the lawn outside City Hall, with drivers honking in support as they passed by on Cabot Street.
“None of us want to do this, but at this point we have no choice,” she said.
Brotherton said 99% of about 650 union teachers and paraprofessionals voted in favor of the strike just after 4 p.m. Thursday in a meeting at the Larcom Theatre.
Teachers are planning to picket outside all of the city’s public schools Friday beginning at 8 a.m. and later hold a rally at Lynch Park. Brotherton said the union is willing to bargain “around the clock all weekend” to resolve the impasse.
Beverly School Committee chair Rachael Abell called the strike illegal and said it “unfairly disrupts the education of our students.” Beverly Public Schools has more than 4,500 students in five elementary schools, a middle school and a high school.
“We want to make it clear that the School Committee does not condone the illegal actions of the BTA,” Abell said in a statement. “We will work with state officials to minimize the disruption to our students’ education and we urge all teachers and staff to return to school.”
Beverly schools will be closed through the duration of the strike. But she said the School Committee and school administrators will provide box lunches for students that can be picked up at Beverly High School between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
The School Committee also voted to allow athletics, theater/band rehearsals and field trips to continue as long as a coach or advisor is present to direct the activity.
Beverly students who attend out-of-district schools will be picked up and dropped off as usual, Abell said. Transportation will also be provided for Beverly students who attend the After Dark programs at Essex Tech and Salem High School.
Teachers have been in negotiations with the School Committee on a new contract since February. The union said it is looking for smaller class sizes, support for dysregulated students, longer elementary lunch and recess, paid parental leave, and an increase in what it calls the “poverty pay” for paraprofessionals.
On top of those issues, Brotherton said behavioral issues by students have been a constant problem since the pandemic.
“Not a day goes by when one of us isn’t being hit, kicked, threatened or disrespected by one of our students,” she said. “Those students need help.”
Mayor Mike Cahill released a statement urging teachers to return to work and allow negotiations to continue with the assistance of a state-appointed mediator.
“Earlier this week, I made a direct plea to members of the Beverly Teachers Association expressing my concerns about the impact that an illegal strike would have on our students, their families, and the entire community,” he said.
“The School Committee and BTA can come to an agreement that makes the market corrections we together seek without exceeding what’s financially possible for our city and, importantly, without disrupting our students’ education,” he added.
Cahill has said the city has offered $24.45 million in new money over three years for teachers and paraprofessionals. The proposal includes a 27.2% increase in wages for teachers over three years and a 42.8% increase for paraprofessionals.
This marks the first teachers strike in Beverly since 1993. That strike lasted a week.
The Beverly School Committee has asked the state Department of Labor Relations to step in and stop the strike. Strikes by public employees are illegal in Massachusetts. A spokesman for the Department of Labor Relations said the state’s Commonwealth Employment Relations Board is investigating the matter.
Kimberly Blyth, a parent of two Beverly Middle School students, was at the strike announcement on Thursday and said she supports the teachers.
“It’s unfortunate obviously that it’s come to this and I know that it’s going to be really disruptive,” she said. “But I think it’s the only way honestly that they’re actually going to be able to move forward.”
Blyth, who runs a Beverly Caregivers Supporting Teachers Facebook page, said that many parents reached out to her immediately after the strike announcement to say they would be willing to help other families with child care.
“It’s kind of a really nice community feel where a lot of people are saying it’s worth the sacrifice for our teachers to be doing this because we all want the same thing,” she said.
Beverly Teachers Association Co-President Andrea Sherman and paraprofessional Paul Drake also spoke during the announcement at City Hall. Drake said he has been a paraprofessional in Beverly for nine years and makes $26,000 per year.
“The city has neglected our needs for years,” Drake said. “They’ve had every opportunity to start digging us out of the hole, but that has not happened. So that’s why we are where we are right now.”
Teachers in Gloucester also went on strike on Thursday. Thirty local educators’ unions announced their support for the teachers in the two communities.
“We condone their decision to withhold labor and encourage members of both unions to stay resolute in their demands for a fair and just contract,” the union presidents said in a prepared statement.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.