Ruling establishes fact of illegal strike, however State Superior Court would impose potential penalties.
The Massachusetts Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (“CERB”) issued a ruling that the Newton Teacher’s Association (“NTA”) and the employees it represents, prior to their vote on January 18 “are about to engage in a strike in violation of Section 9A(a) of the Law and that the NTA and its officers, including Mike Zilles in his capacity as Union president, have induced, encouraged, and condoned the strike.” Pages 5 and 6 of the ruling contain Interim Orders, which generally direct the NTA to discontinue any strike activities.
This ruling is in response to this petition filed by the School Committee on Tuesday January 16, requesting the state’s Department of Labor Relations (DLR) investigate the NTA and “determine that a strike and work stoppage is about to occur in violation of Section 9A.” The School Committee’s petition filing was shared with the Newton community on January 16 via Mayor Fuller’s e-newsletter.
The 20-page petition and 21-page CERB ruling contain the evidence that the School Committee presented to the DLR in order to obtain the Interim Order, including emails from NPS employees, NTA officials, and PTO members referencing an upcoming strike. Of note, Temple Shalom in West Newton, according to these documents, was originally scheduled to be the site of yesterday’s strike vote, before the vote was moved to a virtual meeting.
The CERB ruling itself does not create financial penalties to the NTA or its striking workers. A Massachusetts court would need to incorporate the CERB ruling into any decision it makes regarding enforcement action such as fines, as courts did in the Andover and Haverhill teacher strikes, for example.
Fig City News will continue its ongoing coverage of the 2024 Newton Teachers Strike.
