School officials withhold teacher pay

In a surprising move, Gloucester schools officials withheld pay from all striking educators amid stalled contract talks, educators found out today.

“Gloucester School Committee and the City of Gloucester have made a shameful, despicable move by becoming the first and only district in recent memory to dock pay from educators during a strike” said UGE Vice President Matthew Lewis. “This vindictive, heartless decision was made with one clear, malicious intent: to try and break our resolve, to force us back into the very conditions we are striking against.”

Lewis stated that Gloucester is the only district in recent history to dock striking teachers pay in Massachusetts.

GTA President Rachel Salvo-Rex stated that “This tactic is clearly intended to break the union’s resolve. What Superintendent Lummis and School Committee Chair Kathleen Clancy fail to recognize that this only fuels our fire. The Union is more united than ever.”

At a rally at City Hall today, students, teachers and community members advocated for the settlement of a fair contract. Most of the speakers focused on IEP students, behavioral health accommodations and paraprofessional pay.

Veteran Social Studies teacher Rich Francis addressed the withheld wages.

“This is unprecedented,” Francis said.  “In the last 20 years we have not seen this type of action taken against striking teachers and paras.”

The School Committee also released a statement saying they want to “bring teachers back to school tomorrow morning, while continuing with the mediation process through face-to-face negotiations.”

The union rejected this, and school will be closed tomorrow.