On January 26, legal representatives of the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) attended two hearings in Middlesex Superior Court, after which the judge issued a ruling that assesses a coercive fine of $50,000 per day that the strike remains in place, starting at 8PM on Sunday, January 28. No fine will be assessed for Friday or Saturday.
The judge removed the daily escalation of fines that had been in place this week — which had accumulated a total liability of $375,000 for the NTA over four days of this week — because “such large, escalating fines would undermine effective and fair collective bargaining, which is promoted by the same labor relations statute that contains the prohibition on public union strikes.”
According to the ruling, either party may file a motion asking the judge “to reconsider coercive fines due to alleged noncompliance with [good faith bargaining] or for some other reason.”
Prior to the first hearing, Superintendent Anna Nolin submitted an affidavit about the impact of the strike.
Prior to the second hearing, Superintendent Nolin submitted a second affidavit in response to a request by the judge for the School Committee to provide evidence of its bargaining in good faith.
Between the two hearings, both the Newton Public Schools and the NTA issued statements about the status of negotiations from their perspectives.
Separate Press Conferences
Negotiations ended around 8:30PM, and the two sides held separate press conferences outside the negotiations as they were concluding. Each side indicated an urgency to reach an agreement in time to have schools open on Monday.
NTA Press Conference (NewTV video) began at approximately 7:30PM. NTA President Mike Zilles did not attend the NTA press conference and remained in the negotiations. NTA spokesperson Ryan Normandin said:
- “The NTA negotiating team is available to bargain 24/7 this weekend. We demand that Fuller, Brezski, and the rest of the School Committee join us.”
- “[Regarding the judge’s ruling], We really hope that the School Committee will feel less inclined to try to wait us out. …Inside the [negotiating] room, the conversation is not about the fines. The conversation remains and has remained all week about doing what’s best for our kids and getting kids back to school because that’s been our top priority.”
- “We still have a lot of items on the table. …We have no substantive progress but we’re hoping that starting with the meeting tonight and as we go into the weekend, that we will be able to get some kind of agreement. We’ll be here as long as it takes, as long as the School Committee is willing to stay.”
School Committee Press Conference (NewTV video) began at approximately 8:15PM. School Committee Chair Chris Brezski said:
- “Negotiations began at 9:30AM …almost a 12-hour day, but I know it’s still a longer day for families with kids in Newton as we’ve gone for a full week now, on our sixth day without school.”
- “There was some progress. …on parental leave, …the result of some creative solutions that were put forth by the School Committee. There’s still a lot of work to be done. …We’re hopeful for a productive day tomorrow. We’ll be back here at 9AM. …We don’t have an end time in sight for tomorrow.”
- “We want this to be done, but we’ve got to get it done in a way that provides our kids what we need, and we need those kids back in school on Monday, so we’re going to put everything we’ve got to make this happen.”
- “There’s still $36 million in NTA proposals [over the life of a three-year contract] above where we are. The session we were just in was probably one of the more productive back-and-forths that we’ve had.”
At the School Committee press conference, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said:
- ”[The] Middlesex Superior Court Judge …was so right when he wrote that we must have effective and fair bargaining. The Newton School Committee are all-in on settling the contract ASAP and continuing to bargain in good faith. Let’s honor our teachers with wages and benefits that are competitive and that show respect for their outstanding work. I have provided the School Committee with a substantial commitment of financial resources to do just that. …Let’s make sure that Superintendent Nolin has the funding to move forward with her initiatives.”
- “The Superintendent has the funds, as does the negotiating team, to sign a contract that has competitive compensation, to be sustainable so we don’t face layoffs, and to have Superintendent Nolin make forward progress on her Entry Plan.”
- “To the union: Please put the students first by committing to have the schools open on Monday. …We’ll be working hard this weekend to do just that.”
Ed. Note: Adam Bernstein and Bruce Henderson contributed to this article, which has been updated to include information from the evening press conferences and statements issued by NPS and the NTA.
