Teachers' contract negotiations continued Saturday in Andover, Massachusetts, amid a strike that canceled classes in the town Friday.
Despite 27 bargaining sessions between the School Committee and the Andover Education Association since January 2023, have not been able to come to terms on a new contract. The union decided to strike during an emergency meeting Thursday night, canceling classes Friday for an estimated 5,500 students.
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The union said Saturday afternoon that progress had been made in the talks, but that "many significant issues remain unresolved." It said it is prepared to continue negotiations Sunday if no deal is reached by the end of the day.
"The AEA is committed to bargaining with the Andover School Committee throughout the weekend with the goal of having schools reopened as soon as possible," the union said in its statement.
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Saturday's talks followed eight hours of negotiations Friday.
"Our strike vote has initiated the kind of bargaining we have wanted for months," the Andover Education Association said in a statement that night. "We have a lot of ground to cover, but both sides are talking and that is because the community has voiced its support for what educators are fighting for."
The school committee said it had "enhanced its paid parental leave proposal, which now includes 11 weeks of paid leave for all parents who welcome a child," as well as an increase to 15 days of sick time for instructional assistance.
"In the meantime, we once again call on the AEA to end this illegal strike so we can bring our students back to the classroom," the Andover School Committee said in its statement.
"We want to be back in our classrooms as quickly as possible," the union said. "The Andover School Committee can make that happen by reaching fair agreements on wages, especially for instructional assistants, paid family leave, protected prep time, and more time for elementary school lunches and recess. Our proposals are aimed at maintaining the high quality of Andover Public Schools by supporting the educators and their work with students."
The union's president, Matt Bach, sent a similar message earlier Friday.
"Nobody wants to be out here, we want to be in the classrooms, we're passionate about teaching and delivering services, but it has been made so difficult by the district to do that effectively," said Bach, a high school history teacher.
The union is pushing for a 16% raise over 3 years for teachers, paid family leave policies on par with peer districts, increased elementary lunch and recess time, protected prep time for elementary teachers — and the biggest sticking point: a living wage for instructional aides currently making between $25,000 and 38,000 a year.
"They make poverty wages, and we are trying to have serious discussions with the school committee to advance to at least a minimum of 40K a year," said Bach. “It’s an almost exclusive female work force. It’s our most diverse workforce in the town of Andover and they’re making poverty wages.”
The Andover School Committee released a statement, saying in part, "We are incredibly disappointed in this decision by the [union] to take this illegal action that unfairly disrupts the education of our students."
But the community showed their support for the 850 teachers on strike and on the picket line Friday. Even parents and students came out to support the striking faculty.
Andover second grader Thomas Sette said, "They're all so nice and they help me all the way."
His mother, Lourena Sette, said, "We just hope that these only last one day because we wanted them to go to school and be able to learn and not disturb their learning process. But yeah, we're here 100% to support them."
It should be noted, that while the district canceled classes Friday, most districts in the state have the day off to observe Veterans Day.
