November 12, 2024 • 37 mins
Three Massachusetts communities see their educators on strike for a third day now. The negotiations continue in Gloucester, Beverly, and Marblehead over educators’ contracts, in which the various teachers’ unions are asking for higher pay, more benefits, and parental leave among other demands. Beverly and Gloucester were scheduled to report to Essex Superior Court in Lawrence for a contempt hearing where they could face fines after they refused to call off their own work stoppages. We brought you the latest in the ongoing negotiations and litigation.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBS Constance.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Well, if you are a student in the Marblehead, Gloucester
or Beverly school system, no school tomorrow, now, I'm sure
a lot of the kids are cheering. Hey, no school
tomorrow and the other day off. Okay, well maybe not
all kids, but some. But I'll tell you who's probably
not cheering, and that's the parents of the kids in
those schools. Because when you think of this sort of
(00:31):
social contract that exists between taxpayers and the communities in
which they live. One portion of that social contract is
the taxpayers pay taxes, primarily real estate taxes in most
Massachusetts communities, to support the essential services, which include fire,
(00:52):
police EMTs. Your house catches fire, there's a robber coming
in your house, someone is choking, or someone is having
a metal emergency, you want to think that there'll be
a fire truck that pulls up, a police car or
some sort of an ambulance. One of the other parts
of the social contract is if you have children, or
if you live in the community, you support the school system,
(01:15):
and school systems in public school systems in Massachusetts are
quite expensive compared to many other states around the country.
But we pride ourselves on the quality of the public
school systems. We have very active teachers unions here in Massachusetts,
including the MTA, which are embarked on a very successful
(01:36):
ballot initiative this past fall in which they knocked out
the MCST tests, the Comprehensive Assessment Survey, and I suspect
that we will see the teachers' union becoming more and
more active. Right now, there are three communities that tonight
(01:57):
are trying to figure out what will their kids do
tomorrow in Marblehead, Gloucester, in Beverly because school is out,
because the teachers' union is on strike. Now, I'm not
particularly interested in trying to negotiate on behalf of the
school committees or on behalf of the teachers union. The
teachers union always wants more money. That's understandable. That's understandable. However, However,
(02:24):
most people view benefits of being a teacher compensating, maybe
for not making a million dollars a year. Teachers do
not make a million dollars a year. They are highly compensated.
In most or in many Massachusetts communities. They make six figures.
They work from September to June. They have I would
(02:46):
say a fairly ample number of vacation days holidays during
the year. They work about one hundred and eighty school days.
They have in many respects on the ability to carry
over their sick days. They can once called bank days.
They have all sorts of parental leave when they have
a welcome a child. There are a lot of companies
(03:09):
that do not provide parental lead, certainly not paid parental leave.
And the teacher unions now are flexing their muscles in Massachusetts,
and we will see more more teacher strikes in Massachusetts
in the days, in the weeks, and the months and
the years ahead. Last winter, there was a nearly three
(03:31):
week teacher strike in the city of Newton, and at
that time Mayor Ruth Ann Fuller was beside herself because
teachers in Newton are very well compensated, and of course
eventually the strike was settled. The bottom line is the
teachers' union and the teachers are paid through the city
(03:52):
by the taxpayers, simple as that. So when there's a
teacher strike, besides the inconvenience that inflict on the family
and on the students, it also means that at the
end of the day, the cost will be incurred by
the residents of that particular community. Oh, there's some other
revenue streams that come in, but the bulk of the money,
(04:17):
the salaries that teachers receive, come from the taxpayers in
their respective communities. Now, if you've noticed, and maybe you
haven't if you haven't been paying attention, but most often
teachers strikes occur at two points during the school year.
They either occur when the school year commences in September,
(04:38):
or they now occur during the school year. So the
teachers striking Newton and end Over, and I think there
was wubrin if I'm not mistaken, they occurred during the
school year, and you have now three communities up on
the north Shore, Beverly, Gloucester and marble Head. I don't
want to say that those three strikes are coordinated, but
(05:00):
it wouldn't surprise me if they were, because of the
geographic proximity of those three communities. So I made a
simple proposal last night, and I kind of came to
it during the program, and I want to hear if
you agree or disagree with me in this. We have
a legislature in Massachusetts that does not want to stand
(05:21):
up to the teachers' unions. With that we know, okay,
the teachers' unions are now one of the most powerful
political organizations in Massachusetts. We've invited the head of the
teachers' union, the mass Teachers Association, to commit and join us.
He's more than welcome any night. His name is Max Page.
We'd be more than happy to have him come on
and discuss what the teachers' unions really are looking for.
(05:46):
If you're interested, go to the Massachusetts Department of Education
slash teacher salaries and you can see how much teachers
the average teacher in the school system the community in
which you live receive. Okay, you'll find that interesting. Make
note that the statistics there are from calendar year twenty twenty,
(06:06):
twenty twenty one. For those of you paying attention, it
is now November of twenty twenty four, so those statistics,
those salaries, as generous as they as they appear, are
already three years old. So I have a simple solution
to avoid what is being inflicted on people, families, students
(06:27):
and parents in Marblehead, Gloucester and Beverly, and that is this.
Teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts, but it doesn't matter.
I believe that at least two of the teachers' union
should have been in court today. Listening to the various
news stations tonight, it didn't appear that those court hearings occurred.
And that's often the case. A judge says, you got
(06:51):
to be back, we've got to stop this strike by
noon on Tuesday. Well, noon on Tuesday comes, and noon
on Tuesday and Wednesday comes. Occasionally there's a judge who
will stand up to the teachers union, but that's some
few and far between. So here's my simple proposal. If
let us say a contract, a teacher's contract in any
(07:13):
Massachusetts community is to end, they all end on June thirtieth,
at the end of the of the school year. So
what I would suggest is that the union and the
school committees should be informed by the state legislature that
one year before the contract is supposed to be renewed,
(07:35):
which would be the following September first. So when when
the final year of the school contract is about to
begin on September first, the previous July in August, the
union and the school committee or whoever's the bargaining agent
(07:56):
have to spend some time not during the school year
but in July and August negotiating. Now, if they can
negotiate an agreement a year ahead of time, that's great,
much better than negotiating an agreement a year into the contract,
which of course makes it possible for them to strike
during the year. Now, let's assume that they have. Let's
(08:18):
just use as an example. Let's assume that these contracts
were due to be renewed on September first of this year,
which I think they were. That means that a year ago,
in the summer of twenty twenty three, July and August
the twenty twenty three, there should have been contract conversations,
serious discussions begun. If they completed their negotiations successfully and
(08:45):
everybody was happy, which is unlikely because one side will
always fight the other, then they start in September. They
would have started in this September to the final year
of the contract. Okay, so the contract ends. The last
year of the contract ends on June thirtieth. On that
(09:05):
next summer, the union and the school committee is forced
to negotiate, and that negotiation would be overseen by some
sort of a mediator or an arbiter, and eventually it
would be binding arbitration, which would mean sometime around August fifteenth,
the arbiter would say to both the union and to
(09:27):
this community, I want your last and final offer, and
then the arbiter would decide what the contract will be. Okay,
now I know that that would drive the union crazy,
it probably would drive the school committee's crazy, but it
would force an agreement binding arbitration. So that means that
(09:49):
if there would be an incentive built in for both
to be more reasonable and if they weren't, if let's
say the union said we want ten, twelve and fourteen
percent of the next three year contract and the community
offered I don't know, you know, two four and six
on a three year contract, then it would be after
(10:12):
the arbit to decide which it is, and the arbita
could go completely for the school committee or go completely
for the union. I'll be somewhere in between. That is
my humble proposal, because if that proposal was ever adopted
by our legislature, it would ensure that there would be
no strikes during the school year because one the negotiations
(10:38):
would have occurred a year ahead of time, would have
begun a here ahead of time, and they would have
to have been done in July and August during summer vacation,
so the union leaders they would have an incentive to
get the negotiations over with, as would the school committee.
I think it's a pretty simple idea, and I think
that it is one that we should look at very
(10:59):
seriously here in Massachusetts. Now, I'm going to open up
the phone lines. I'm going to hope that I hear
from you. If you agree with me and you think
it's a good idea, tell me. If you disagree with me,
tell me why. Bottom line is there is a social contract.
I'll come back to where I started. This is not
the UAW, the Autoworkers of America on the line, This
(11:21):
is not Boeing, This is not even radio and TV
stations employees. This is a social contract that exists between
the community and the teachers. No one has drafted these
teachers to become teachers. No one has forced them to
become teachers. They have asked and studied to become teachers.
(11:44):
There's a lot of benefits to being a teacher. One
of them is not you know, million dollar salaries. Now,
if you work long enough, if you work thirty years,
you can make three four million dollars as a teacher,
and you're going to get a really good pension at
the end of the day. But your job is to
educate kids and not go out and strike during the
(12:04):
school year. Six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty
six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. I am
deadly serious. This is what should be adopted. I'm sure
there will be people who will of all sorts of objections.
That's fine, let's hear them, let's get them out on
the table, and I'm sure there'll be some people out
there are going to say that's a pretty good idea.
Give me a call. Six one seven, two, five four
(12:24):
ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
I'm trying to make you think that I don't care
what you think. I just want to make sure you're thinking.
I thought about this last night. This is what I've
come up with. Come up with your own idea, come up,
let's but let's talk about it back here on Nightside
right after this.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Okay, when I use the word social contract, I'm using
that specifically because there is a contract here that's above
and beyond salary. The salaries for teachers in Massachusetts are good, Okay,
are good. I've heard about some of the things that
are being asked for, like recovery rooms for teachers and stuff.
Come on, guys, come on, you picked the profession. Okay.
(13:15):
Every job has its pluses and every job has its minuses,
and you cannot eliminate every inconvenience, every minus from a job.
Sometimes you're going to get a kid in a classroom.
It was tough to deal with. I want you to
have support on that. But at the same time, you
have engaged in a social contract. You have said I
want to be a teacher. I want to be a
(13:36):
teacher because I want to teach kids, not because I
want to walk up picket line. Let's go to the calls.
Agree to disagree, that's fine, it's I just want to
have a conversation because I think this is going to
be soon a very critical subject for people in Massachusetts
to look at and consider and actually come to a conclusion.
(13:56):
Justin and Marlborough, Justin, thanks for calling in. How are
you tonight?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Welcome in good stings sense to taking back call. I
like you, I like your idea and I think the
teachers to be grateful, because what annoys me is that
it's against the law to strike, and laws don't mean
anything in the state. We have an attorney general that
(14:20):
was hard to say it's not illegal to be illegal.
I mean, it's amazing to me. And what happened in
Franklin back in the nineteen seventies, this would solve all
our problems. They invested to teach.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Refreshed my recollection. What happened to Franklin.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Justin the Franklin teachers, I think it was very nineteen
seventy eight went on strike and my neighbor was a
state trooper and his wife was a teacher, and they
made the front page of the Boston New Boston Globe
because he arrested her and they spent a week in jail.
(14:57):
They got strip searched. Trust me, the Franklin teachers never
went on strike again.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Wow, was his wife the head of the union.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
No, I don't as soon as soon as a junior
high math teacher.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, well, normally, very rarely did our teachers put in
jail because they all were a contempt here. I didn't
realize they were all put in jail. I gotta go
back to check. I know, well it is illegal. But
what happens is the judgment committed. The judge will say,
look to the union leaders, if you don't order your
(15:32):
teachers back to work by tomorrow at eight o'clock, we're
gonna find you ten thousand dollars a day, and if
you don't come back the next day, the final will
be double the twenty thousand. Then it will be double
to forty thousand. So what happens is sometimes when they
finally do settle, the judge will say, okay, you have settled.
We're going to cut the fines back to ten thousand
dollars and that'll be paid by the Massachusetts Teachers Association,
(15:56):
and of course it'll eventually be recaptured in the dues
from the from the teachers, because the dues are going
to go up. And everybody kind of figures it's a wash,
but it's just not fair. The people who are victimized
here are the kids and the parents of kids. Most
parents work during the day, you know, particularly if the
kids are older, maybe they have a babysitter but lined up,
(16:22):
or what happens if if they don't have a babysitter
lined up during the school day because they assume that
kids are going to be in school. What do they
do for their job? It's it's it's nothing.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
And none of the teachers in Newton looked stressed or
worried when they were on stress. They didn't have the
wory of getting arrested. They didn't having fun.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Oh it's like it's well, I don't think they enjoyed
being outside in the middle of January. But putting that aside, yeah,
it was, uh, it was kind of a party atmosphere.
So that's yeah, that's something that I think is troubling.
I really do think it's troubling, and I think that
I think that my proposal is one that the legislatures
(17:06):
should consider because I think this teacher strike thing is
only going to get worser in Massachusetts as time goes on.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Justin, I hope you listen to you, Dan. I look
forward to seeing the dan Way.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Teacher. Yeah, the the the teachers strike law. We'll see. Thanks,
talk to you soon. Have a great night. Good I okay,
all right, So that opens up one line at six, one, seven, two, five, four,
ten thirty. When we get back, I got Claudette, I
got Bill, and I got some room for you at
six one, seven nine. I'm making a very serious proposal.
(17:45):
I hope that someone in the legislature's listening and says, hey,
this is something. All this is doing insane to teachers unions. Look,
start your negotiation a year in advance. If so happens
that you come to an agreement, that's great, that provides
continuity of school. If you don't get together on an
(18:07):
agreement a year in advance, then the summer before you
got to go back to school without a contract. I
don't want teachers going back to school without a contract.
You got to have a negotiation. And it's only in
July and August, okay, and on August fifteenth. If you
haven't come to an agreement, if everything hasn't been decided,
if everything hasn't been decided, then you are going to
(18:30):
submit to the to the arbiter or the mediator, you know,
be compulsory or compulsory arbitration, compulsory mediation, and they will decide.
So it's the same way that goes on in professional
sports when a player and a team kind of agree,
depending upon the situation. Sometimes they say to a player,
(18:52):
go ahead, go find somewhere else. You can't do that
with teachers. You can't do it with teachers. But we
got to do something that's going to change the dynamic
and stop the teacher strikes for the sake for truly,
for the sake of the students, and for the sake
of the parents and the families of the students. I
firmly believe in what I'm saying. I hope you'll agree
(19:14):
or disagree. I don't care which, but I'd love to
hear from you coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm telling you Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
All right, back we go. Let me go to Claude Dette,
who is joining us tonight from New Bedford. Claude ed
welcome to Nightside. How are you?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
I'm fine? Thank you yourself.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Doing just great. I don't know that I've ever had
the pleasure of you calling my show. Is this your
first time calling?
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Now?
Speaker 4 (19:43):
A first time call?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Well, you're going to get you a role of a
posse of my digital studio audience. You go right ahead.
What's your thought on this?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (19:54):
I am a former teacher. I've not since retired, but
in New Bedford and nineteen sixty eight, we were the
first ones to go on strike, and people were arrested
and they went to jail. And this was done the
teacher beginning of the school year.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
No, let me ask you, was it the teachers or
the leadership? Did they arrest teachers? Just teachers as well
as the school.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
They arrested teachers the I think they did direst some administrators,
but they had to separate after that.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
They had no What I meant was normally what I've
seen happen is that they have. When I was a
reporter and TV clad, they would order the union leaders
to tell the union to go back to work, and
then they would threaten the union leaders with prison. Justin
talked about teachers being arrested in Framingham. I you know, again,
I'm not interested in seeing teachers being arrested. I don't
(21:00):
think that's a good thing. Did you think about my
idea about forcing them to have the negotiations? Seems to
me like they always wait till they've been working without
a contract for six months, and I just think that's dumb.
Get it done early.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
True, I agree with you on that most certainly. Getting
back to the new Bedford situation, the strike occurred prior
to the beginning of the school year, so that was
pretty good. But I'm curious, as do the teachers in
(21:41):
those areas around Boston. Do they get their health insurance
from the school department? Are they given that?
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yes, I believe every teacher in Massachusetts gets their health insurance.
I'm sure that is a part of the contract negotiation,
and they should get their health insurance from the community.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Well, right, I guess they do it in New Bedford now,
But I remember I paid my own health insurance.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I mean, things have gotten better for teachers unions, as
they should have, but I think we've reached a tipping
point when the teachers' unions they most teachers in Massachusetts,
even in the smallest communities, are making you know, on average,
eighty thousand dollars, okay, and in a lot of communities
they're making one hundred thousand dollars, a salary that you
(22:32):
can't even you would not have even talked about. Obviously,
the economy is different today. You couldn't live today on
what you were paid when you were a teacher. So
I don't mind seeing teachers having competitive salaries. I mean
I would support that.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Well.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
I retired in two thousand and three, and I was
on maximum pay for my step increase was fifty six
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, and again back twenty years ago, that was a
pretty decent salary. You weren't going to become a millionaire,
but that was a decent salary. When I graduated from college,
which was, you know, in the last century, I actually was.
I was an English major before I went to law school,
(23:26):
and I had a minor teaching certificate. And at that time, teachers,
this was in the nineteen seventies, you could look forward
to making maybe twenty thousand dollars as a starting teacher,
and I thought to myself, Wow, twenty thousand dollars over
career thirty years, that's going to be six hundred thousand dollars. Obviously,
salaries have increased across the board since then as well
(23:48):
they should. But teachers now, on average in Massachusetts, you know,
there are exceptions, but you can look at the Department
of Education statistics can eighty ninety thousand dollars on average. Now,
starting teachers make less, experienced teachers make more, but on
average eighty ninety thousand dollars, and many teachers now make
(24:12):
in excess of one hundred thousand dollars, which is fine.
I don't have a problem with that, but I think
that those salaries should be decided in advance of a
school year and the teacher should not use the students
as leverage. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
And I have another question. Are these teachers being paid
while they're on strike?
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Are they drawing?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Well, no, I think that in one of the communities,
I think it was marvel Head, the teachers have been
told they will not be paid during while they're on strike.
But what happens is when they finally come to an agreement,
the union will say to the school committee, look, we
want you to give us back pay for the one
week or if we run strike. In the school committee
(25:01):
at that point, well, we'll go ahead and pay them
because that money was budgeted. So that's what that's generally
what happens in the situation. In situation likeage, the school
committee as part of the agreement. You know, at that
point we're all singing Kumbai yah and the glad that
the strike is over. So the union has all the
leverage here in my opinion. In my opinion, Claudette, thank
(25:24):
you for what you did as a teacher. I'm sure
that you have a lot of pride in the young
men and women who you run into today at the
grocery store or on the street, and they'll say, hey,
how are you remember me? I was a student of yours.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Oh yeah, that happens all the time. Let me say
you one thing, if you became if you became an
English teacher, yep, you would be working long hours every day,
correcting essays and everything else. English teachers had it the worst.
I mean when you know people are saying, oh, the
(26:02):
only work six hours a day now because you've got
to bring home all your correction and all this other
stuff and you have to do your lesson plans.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Do you know what?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Do you know what time I start to work every day?
I do a show from eight to midnight. What time
do you think I start working every day? Oh?
Speaker 4 (26:20):
I don't have no idea.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Nine o'clock in the morning. I'm on the phone at
nine o'clock in the morning with my producer Marita uh,
and we're going over, Okay, what are we thinking about?
You know what, what are the possible issues we can
talk about tonight? Okay. So and again I do it
because I like it. Do I have to do it? No,
I could quit tomorrow if I wanted to. But I
(26:44):
like my job and I enjoy conversing with people like
yourself and learning from you and learning from Justin and
Marlborough from different different experiences. For me, that's the best
part of the day when I get a chance to
talk with you. But during the day it can be agonizing.
What what stories are we going to cover? What are
we going to do? Are people going to be interested
in this? You know, I'm not getting overwhelmed with phone
(27:06):
calls on this topic, but I'm sticking with it because
I think it's an incredibly important topic, not only for
the Comwalth of Massachusetts. It's important for the teachers' unions.
It's important for the students, and it's important for the parents.
This is not the sexiest topic in the world to
talk about, Claudette, but I'm.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Oh, I know, I'm.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Committed to doing it, and I can't tell you how
much I appreciate that you would take the time to
call and share your experience and thank you for the job.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Okay, sir, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Dan, You're very welcome. Hope to hear from me again. Thanks.
Thanks claud thank you very much. Maybe I hope so
looking forward to your second call. No applause in the
second call, but you got the applause tonight, Thanks Claude.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Okay, thank you, good night, six.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Seven, good night six one seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.
I'm going to talk about this till ten o'clock. Okay,
Bill and Natick awaits on the other side. And if
you don't think this is an important subject, you're not thinking.
And if you're not thinking, you shouldn't be listening to
Night Side, because that's what my job is is to
make you think. I don't care what you think. I mean,
(28:08):
you know, I care what you think, but I just
want you to think think about this. This is a
proposal that I think is important, not because I came
up with it, but it is a reform that we
could consider here in Massachusetts which might make life easier
for parents, for students, and for teachers. The union won't
(28:29):
support this, I guarantee you that. I guarantee you that,
but if teachers think about it, they'll realize this will
make their lives easier and it'll make their students' lives better.
And that's what I think. Good teachers are all about.
Will be back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Place Side Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Next is Bill and Natick. Bill, I appreciate you holding
on you Next on Nightside, go right ahead.
Speaker 6 (28:59):
Well, I was a pleasure talk to you.
Speaker 5 (29:01):
My background is I've never been a teacher, and I
wouldn't want to be one. However, I am an elected
town meeting member. My neighbors wrote my name in without
telling me, and they've re elected me for forty seven years.
But I just want to say that I'm not surprised
that I agree with you on your plan. I agree
(29:24):
with many of the things you've said over the years.
But what strikes me in particular about these three towns
I would like information. I would like to know when
either side first requested to Bogging about the contract. You know,
(29:46):
was it at the end of the school year or
was it beforehand?
Speaker 6 (29:49):
The other thing that, yeah, Bill.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Hold of a second, I don't have an answer to
that question, but I will tell you I think that
human nature, you tend to put the things off, you know.
I don't care if it's doctor's appointments or dentist appointments,
or you've got to go to the store. I think
people we tend to kind of, Oh, the Patriots game
is on, I'll watch them, you know, That's all I'm saying.
(30:13):
And I think that the proposal I'm making would force them.
You know, in professional sports, if you're a professional athlete,
the team has to offer you a contract by a
certain data you become a free agent. They you know,
they got to make a decision, and then you've got
to decide by a certain date if you want to
accept that offer or not. There are there are there
(30:35):
were rules and regulations imposed because if you did that,
the Red Sox would open the season in April and
half the team would be minor league Baseball players and
the lot of the guys would be sitting sitting at
home waiting for a contract offer. It'say, now, no, I'm
just no, no, but I just they were just say,
(30:55):
you're joking here, but you want to see your best
players on the field on opening day. Same way with
the Patriots. You know, they got to report the camp
by a certain date, and if they don't report the
camp by a certain date, they get fot. I mean,
it just makes common sense is what I'm truly trying
to say, And so that's.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
I agree with you wholeheartedly. But one of the things
that strikes me about this situation is I would consider
a teacher strike an emergency, wouldn't you?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Yes? I would.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
Yes, if I was a school community member and I say, well,
we want to buy it first thing in the morning,
at nine o'clock, or if these two towns didsa at
nine o'clock and ten o'clock. One of the towns says, no,
we can't get together at three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Well, I think the time to begin the bargaining would
have been months ago. They should because.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
Now we have an emergency.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, I get it. No, I get it. I totally
get it. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
So that makes me suspect a little bit more. I
always want the facts, and I agree with you. I
think your plan is a way to go, and I
wish we could all adopt it.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Well, let's see, I wish I had more people responding
to the call tonight. But that's okay.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
This is one that this is a shortness I've ever waited.
I've called it times over the years, but most times
I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
But no, I just say that and I do appreciate.
But I what I'm saying is that this is one
that makes people think. And I don't know. I I'm
not going to put the same show on the radio
every night. I mean, I'm I spend time during the
day trying to come up with even if it's the
same subject, I want to get a different angle on it.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
I want to get a different And you do a
good job, you know.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
So well, whatever, and I'll do it as long as
I can. And when when my time is up, you'll
have another talk show host.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Who maybe I'm in real estate, do a lot of
rentals and I'll be eighty next year. But you know,
I'm going to do it as long as I can.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
You got it all right, because you like the job.
That's what it comes down to. Bill. Appreciate your call
very much.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Thank you, Okay, you for being man.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Thank you very much. Good night. Let me go to
Mike and Lynn. Mike your next time nights. I appreciate
you calling in.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Go ahead, Mike, Hey, mister Dan, how are you doing today.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I'm doing great. Go ahead, Mike. What's what's your take
on this?
Speaker 6 (33:10):
Mike taking this? I do agree with the teachers Per's
good people. And if you do the math, ninety percent
of the workforce they are women and they are good people.
I gotta tell you this story. In two thousand and two,
I was a single father living in North Quincy. Now
I live in Land, and I will remember always missus Lyon.
(33:33):
My daughter was going to PMS. I didn't know what
PMS is, and she helped me and she used to
check on me every Saturday. So ninety or one hundred
percent of all the teachers there are women, and there
are good people, and they deserve the best.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So the question, though, is this, This is the question.
I don't disagree with you, okay. As matter of fact,
I think teachers become teachers all the right reasons. Now
I do think that some teachers get burned out, but
that's a story for another day. It just seems to
me that once the school year starts, the contract should
(34:12):
be in place. The teachers should be satisfied, they should
know what they're receiving. How would you like to be
a parent. You said you were the parent of a daughter,
single dad, How would you like to have been I
assume you probably were working and your daughter went off
to school, and you went off to work and the
difficult set of circumstances. I get it. How would you
(34:34):
like to have seen the Quincy teachers you and you
go out and strike? How would you be able to
take care of your daughter during the day and still
go to work. You couldn't do both things simultaneously, right.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
I couldn't do both.
Speaker 6 (34:45):
But I agree with them, and the reason why I
think because they have three months off in the year
and they getting paid. They don't getting paid enough. They
can even afford to have a house. They have to
have that or boyfriend so they can make cup four expensive?
Speaker 2 (35:08):
How much? Let me ask you this. You live in Lynn, right,
do you own a house in Linn?
Speaker 6 (35:16):
I own a house in Line A play and I
guess you pay?
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Yeah, you pay your your taxes. I understand that. What
do you think the average teacher makes in Linn?
Speaker 6 (35:30):
You know, in the Linn publics fifty sixty five Maybe
if they're lucky, ninety thousands, but I don't think so.
To be honest with you.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Okay, I'm going to tell you what they make. Okay.
In I'm looking at the state reports here from uh
this is twenty and twenty to twenty twenty one. So
these are the latest numbers they have. Okay, the latest
(36:00):
numbers that we have is from twenty twenty one. The
average salary in Lind, the average salary in Linn four
years ago eighty two, one hundred and sixty two dollars.
That's not a bad salary four years So.
Speaker 6 (36:16):
You've got to you've gotta have to keep in mind
the expenses. They have a lot of expenses. They have children,
They have kids, they have a house.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Shure they do. How much should they? How much should
the how much? Then? If if the teachers salary, average
teacher salary is eighty two thousand dollars four years ago
in Lind, it's probably about ninety five thousand dollars today.
But let's assume it's ninety how much should teachers in
Lind What should the average salary be? Give me a number, I.
Speaker 6 (36:47):
Will say, honestly, not only in Lint, No, I'm talking
about in Lind one twenty one.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Hundred twenty Okay, good luck with that.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
You're you.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
I hope you you realize that you'll be paying for that,
so your real estate taxes will go up dramatically. And
I think you're a better person than I am to
think that the teachers should be, on an average receiving that.
Speaker 6 (37:12):
Much money because you know, you know the reason why,
the reason why they go to work every single day,
and they too kids.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
And I'm gonna put up with callers. Hey, Mike, I
hate to do this to you, but I'm flat out
of time. Have you called before since your first time calling?
Speaker 6 (37:29):
This is my first time calling.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
I gotta give you a bun and a clause and
I'm looking forward to your calling back. You a great caller.
Thank you, Mike. I appreciate it very much. We had
done with this topic. Sadly, we will change topics right
after the ten o'clock news Here at night Side
It's night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBS Constance.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Well, if you are a student in the Marblehead, Gloucester
or Beverly school system, no school tomorrow, now, I'm sure
a lot of the kids are cheering. Hey, no school
tomorrow and the other day off. Okay, well maybe not
all kids, but some. But I'll tell you who's probably
not cheering, and that's the parents of the kids in
those schools. Because when you think of this sort of
(00:31):
social contract that exists between taxpayers and the communities in
which they live. One portion of that social contract is
the taxpayers pay taxes, primarily real estate taxes in most
Massachusetts communities, to support the essential services, which include fire,
(00:52):
police EMTs. Your house catches fire, there's a robber coming
in your house, someone is choking, or someone is having
a metal emergency, you want to think that there'll be
a fire truck that pulls up, a police car or
some sort of an ambulance. One of the other parts
of the social contract is if you have children, or
if you live in the community, you support the school system,
(01:15):
and school systems in public school systems in Massachusetts are
quite expensive compared to many other states around the country.
But we pride ourselves on the quality of the public
school systems. We have very active teachers unions here in Massachusetts,
including the MTA, which are embarked on a very successful
(01:36):
ballot initiative this past fall in which they knocked out
the MCST tests, the Comprehensive Assessment Survey, and I suspect
that we will see the teachers' union becoming more and
more active. Right now, there are three communities that tonight
(01:57):
are trying to figure out what will their kids do
tomorrow in Marblehead, Gloucester, in Beverly because school is out,
because the teachers' union is on strike. Now, I'm not
particularly interested in trying to negotiate on behalf of the
school committees or on behalf of the teachers union. The
teachers union always wants more money. That's understandable. That's understandable. However, However,
(02:24):
most people view benefits of being a teacher compensating, maybe
for not making a million dollars a year. Teachers do
not make a million dollars a year. They are highly compensated.
In most or in many Massachusetts communities. They make six figures.
They work from September to June. They have I would
(02:46):
say a fairly ample number of vacation days holidays during
the year. They work about one hundred and eighty school days.
They have in many respects on the ability to carry
over their sick days. They can once called bank days.
They have all sorts of parental leave when they have
a welcome a child. There are a lot of companies
(03:09):
that do not provide parental lead, certainly not paid parental leave.
And the teacher unions now are flexing their muscles in Massachusetts,
and we will see more more teacher strikes in Massachusetts
in the days, in the weeks, and the months and
the years ahead. Last winter, there was a nearly three
(03:31):
week teacher strike in the city of Newton, and at
that time Mayor Ruth Ann Fuller was beside herself because
teachers in Newton are very well compensated, and of course
eventually the strike was settled. The bottom line is the
teachers' union and the teachers are paid through the city
(03:52):
by the taxpayers, simple as that. So when there's a
teacher strike, besides the inconvenience that inflict on the family
and on the students, it also means that at the
end of the day, the cost will be incurred by
the residents of that particular community. Oh, there's some other
revenue streams that come in, but the bulk of the money,
(04:17):
the salaries that teachers receive, come from the taxpayers in
their respective communities. Now, if you've noticed, and maybe you
haven't if you haven't been paying attention, but most often
teachers strikes occur at two points during the school year.
They either occur when the school year commences in September,
(04:38):
or they now occur during the school year. So the
teachers striking Newton and end Over, and I think there
was wubrin if I'm not mistaken, they occurred during the
school year, and you have now three communities up on
the north Shore, Beverly, Gloucester and marble Head. I don't
want to say that those three strikes are coordinated, but
(05:00):
it wouldn't surprise me if they were, because of the
geographic proximity of those three communities. So I made a
simple proposal last night, and I kind of came to
it during the program, and I want to hear if
you agree or disagree with me in this. We have
a legislature in Massachusetts that does not want to stand
(05:21):
up to the teachers' unions. With that we know, okay,
the teachers' unions are now one of the most powerful
political organizations in Massachusetts. We've invited the head of the
teachers' union, the mass Teachers Association, to commit and join us.
He's more than welcome any night. His name is Max Page.
We'd be more than happy to have him come on
and discuss what the teachers' unions really are looking for.
(05:46):
If you're interested, go to the Massachusetts Department of Education
slash teacher salaries and you can see how much teachers
the average teacher in the school system the community in
which you live receive. Okay, you'll find that interesting. Make
note that the statistics there are from calendar year twenty twenty,
(06:06):
twenty twenty one. For those of you paying attention, it
is now November of twenty twenty four, so those statistics,
those salaries, as generous as they as they appear, are
already three years old. So I have a simple solution
to avoid what is being inflicted on people, families, students
(06:27):
and parents in Marblehead, Gloucester and Beverly, and that is this.
Teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts, but it doesn't matter.
I believe that at least two of the teachers' union
should have been in court today. Listening to the various
news stations tonight, it didn't appear that those court hearings occurred.
And that's often the case. A judge says, you got
(06:51):
to be back, we've got to stop this strike by
noon on Tuesday. Well, noon on Tuesday comes, and noon
on Tuesday and Wednesday comes. Occasionally there's a judge who
will stand up to the teachers union, but that's some
few and far between. So here's my simple proposal. If
let us say a contract, a teacher's contract in any
(07:13):
Massachusetts community is to end, they all end on June thirtieth,
at the end of the of the school year. So
what I would suggest is that the union and the
school committees should be informed by the state legislature that
one year before the contract is supposed to be renewed,
(07:35):
which would be the following September first. So when when
the final year of the school contract is about to
begin on September first, the previous July in August, the
union and the school committee or whoever's the bargaining agent
(07:56):
have to spend some time not during the school year
but in July and August negotiating. Now, if they can
negotiate an agreement a year ahead of time, that's great,
much better than negotiating an agreement a year into the contract,
which of course makes it possible for them to strike
during the year. Now, let's assume that they have. Let's
(08:18):
just use as an example. Let's assume that these contracts
were due to be renewed on September first of this year,
which I think they were. That means that a year ago,
in the summer of twenty twenty three, July and August
the twenty twenty three, there should have been contract conversations,
serious discussions begun. If they completed their negotiations successfully and
(08:45):
everybody was happy, which is unlikely because one side will
always fight the other, then they start in September. They
would have started in this September to the final year
of the contract. Okay, so the contract ends. The last
year of the contract ends on June thirtieth. On that
(09:05):
next summer, the union and the school committee is forced
to negotiate, and that negotiation would be overseen by some
sort of a mediator or an arbiter, and eventually it
would be binding arbitration, which would mean sometime around August fifteenth,
the arbiter would say to both the union and to
(09:27):
this community, I want your last and final offer, and
then the arbiter would decide what the contract will be. Okay,
now I know that that would drive the union crazy,
it probably would drive the school committee's crazy, but it
would force an agreement binding arbitration. So that means that
(09:49):
if there would be an incentive built in for both
to be more reasonable and if they weren't, if let's
say the union said we want ten, twelve and fourteen
percent of the next three year contract and the community
offered I don't know, you know, two four and six
on a three year contract, then it would be after
(10:12):
the arbit to decide which it is, and the arbita
could go completely for the school committee or go completely
for the union. I'll be somewhere in between. That is
my humble proposal, because if that proposal was ever adopted
by our legislature, it would ensure that there would be
no strikes during the school year because one the negotiations
(10:38):
would have occurred a year ahead of time, would have
begun a here ahead of time, and they would have
to have been done in July and August during summer vacation,
so the union leaders they would have an incentive to
get the negotiations over with, as would the school committee.
I think it's a pretty simple idea, and I think
that it is one that we should look at very
(10:59):
seriously here in Massachusetts. Now, I'm going to open up
the phone lines. I'm going to hope that I hear
from you. If you agree with me and you think
it's a good idea, tell me. If you disagree with me,
tell me why. Bottom line is there is a social contract.
I'll come back to where I started. This is not
the UAW, the Autoworkers of America on the line, This
(11:21):
is not Boeing, This is not even radio and TV
stations employees. This is a social contract that exists between
the community and the teachers. No one has drafted these
teachers to become teachers. No one has forced them to
become teachers. They have asked and studied to become teachers.
(11:44):
There's a lot of benefits to being a teacher. One
of them is not you know, million dollar salaries. Now,
if you work long enough, if you work thirty years,
you can make three four million dollars as a teacher,
and you're going to get a really good pension at
the end of the day. But your job is to
educate kids and not go out and strike during the
(12:04):
school year. Six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty
six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. I am
deadly serious. This is what should be adopted. I'm sure
there will be people who will of all sorts of objections.
That's fine, let's hear them, let's get them out on
the table, and I'm sure there'll be some people out
there are going to say that's a pretty good idea.
Give me a call. Six one seven, two, five four
(12:24):
ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
I'm trying to make you think that I don't care
what you think. I just want to make sure you're thinking.
I thought about this last night. This is what I've
come up with. Come up with your own idea, come up,
let's but let's talk about it back here on Nightside
right after this.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Okay, when I use the word social contract, I'm using
that specifically because there is a contract here that's above
and beyond salary. The salaries for teachers in Massachusetts are good, Okay,
are good. I've heard about some of the things that
are being asked for, like recovery rooms for teachers and stuff.
Come on, guys, come on, you picked the profession. Okay.
(13:15):
Every job has its pluses and every job has its minuses,
and you cannot eliminate every inconvenience, every minus from a job.
Sometimes you're going to get a kid in a classroom.
It was tough to deal with. I want you to
have support on that. But at the same time, you
have engaged in a social contract. You have said I
want to be a teacher. I want to be a
(13:36):
teacher because I want to teach kids, not because I
want to walk up picket line. Let's go to the calls.
Agree to disagree, that's fine, it's I just want to
have a conversation because I think this is going to
be soon a very critical subject for people in Massachusetts
to look at and consider and actually come to a conclusion.
(13:56):
Justin and Marlborough, Justin, thanks for calling in. How are
you tonight?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Welcome in good stings sense to taking back call. I
like you, I like your idea and I think the
teachers to be grateful, because what annoys me is that
it's against the law to strike, and laws don't mean
anything in the state. We have an attorney general that
(14:20):
was hard to say it's not illegal to be illegal.
I mean, it's amazing to me. And what happened in
Franklin back in the nineteen seventies, this would solve all
our problems. They invested to teach.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Refreshed my recollection. What happened to Franklin.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Justin the Franklin teachers, I think it was very nineteen
seventy eight went on strike and my neighbor was a
state trooper and his wife was a teacher, and they
made the front page of the Boston New Boston Globe
because he arrested her and they spent a week in jail.
(14:57):
They got strip searched. Trust me, the Franklin teachers never
went on strike again.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Wow, was his wife the head of the union.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
No, I don't as soon as soon as a junior
high math teacher.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, well, normally, very rarely did our teachers put in
jail because they all were a contempt here. I didn't
realize they were all put in jail. I gotta go
back to check. I know, well it is illegal. But
what happens is the judgment committed. The judge will say,
look to the union leaders, if you don't order your
(15:32):
teachers back to work by tomorrow at eight o'clock, we're
gonna find you ten thousand dollars a day, and if
you don't come back the next day, the final will
be double the twenty thousand. Then it will be double
to forty thousand. So what happens is sometimes when they
finally do settle, the judge will say, okay, you have settled.
We're going to cut the fines back to ten thousand
dollars and that'll be paid by the Massachusetts Teachers Association,
(15:56):
and of course it'll eventually be recaptured in the dues
from the from the teachers, because the dues are going
to go up. And everybody kind of figures it's a wash,
but it's just not fair. The people who are victimized
here are the kids and the parents of kids. Most
parents work during the day, you know, particularly if the
kids are older, maybe they have a babysitter but lined up,
(16:22):
or what happens if if they don't have a babysitter
lined up during the school day because they assume that
kids are going to be in school. What do they
do for their job? It's it's it's nothing.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
And none of the teachers in Newton looked stressed or
worried when they were on stress. They didn't have the
wory of getting arrested. They didn't having fun.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Oh it's like it's well, I don't think they enjoyed
being outside in the middle of January. But putting that aside, yeah,
it was, uh, it was kind of a party atmosphere.
So that's yeah, that's something that I think is troubling.
I really do think it's troubling, and I think that
I think that my proposal is one that the legislatures
(17:06):
should consider because I think this teacher strike thing is
only going to get worser in Massachusetts as time goes on.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Justin, I hope you listen to you, Dan. I look
forward to seeing the dan Way.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Teacher. Yeah, the the the teachers strike law. We'll see. Thanks,
talk to you soon. Have a great night. Good I okay,
all right, So that opens up one line at six, one, seven, two, five, four,
ten thirty. When we get back, I got Claudette, I
got Bill, and I got some room for you at
six one, seven nine. I'm making a very serious proposal.
(17:45):
I hope that someone in the legislature's listening and says, hey,
this is something. All this is doing insane to teachers unions. Look,
start your negotiation a year in advance. If so happens
that you come to an agreement, that's great, that provides
continuity of school. If you don't get together on an
(18:07):
agreement a year in advance, then the summer before you
got to go back to school without a contract. I
don't want teachers going back to school without a contract.
You got to have a negotiation. And it's only in
July and August, okay, and on August fifteenth. If you
haven't come to an agreement, if everything hasn't been decided,
if everything hasn't been decided, then you are going to
(18:30):
submit to the to the arbiter or the mediator, you know,
be compulsory or compulsory arbitration, compulsory mediation, and they will decide.
So it's the same way that goes on in professional
sports when a player and a team kind of agree,
depending upon the situation. Sometimes they say to a player,
(18:52):
go ahead, go find somewhere else. You can't do that
with teachers. You can't do it with teachers. But we
got to do something that's going to change the dynamic
and stop the teacher strikes for the sake for truly,
for the sake of the students, and for the sake
of the parents and the families of the students. I
firmly believe in what I'm saying. I hope you'll agree
(19:14):
or disagree. I don't care which, but I'd love to
hear from you coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm telling you Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
All right, back we go. Let me go to Claude Dette,
who is joining us tonight from New Bedford. Claude ed
welcome to Nightside. How are you?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
I'm fine? Thank you yourself.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Doing just great. I don't know that I've ever had
the pleasure of you calling my show. Is this your
first time calling?
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Now?
Speaker 4 (19:43):
A first time call?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Well, you're going to get you a role of a
posse of my digital studio audience. You go right ahead.
What's your thought on this?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (19:54):
I am a former teacher. I've not since retired, but
in New Bedford and nineteen sixty eight, we were the
first ones to go on strike, and people were arrested
and they went to jail. And this was done the
teacher beginning of the school year.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
No, let me ask you, was it the teachers or
the leadership? Did they arrest teachers? Just teachers as well
as the school.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
They arrested teachers the I think they did direst some administrators,
but they had to separate after that.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
They had no What I meant was normally what I've
seen happen is that they have. When I was a
reporter and TV clad, they would order the union leaders
to tell the union to go back to work, and
then they would threaten the union leaders with prison. Justin
talked about teachers being arrested in Framingham. I you know, again,
I'm not interested in seeing teachers being arrested. I don't
(21:00):
think that's a good thing. Did you think about my
idea about forcing them to have the negotiations? Seems to
me like they always wait till they've been working without
a contract for six months, and I just think that's dumb.
Get it done early.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
True, I agree with you on that most certainly. Getting
back to the new Bedford situation, the strike occurred prior
to the beginning of the school year, so that was
pretty good. But I'm curious, as do the teachers in
(21:41):
those areas around Boston. Do they get their health insurance
from the school department? Are they given that?
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yes, I believe every teacher in Massachusetts gets their health insurance.
I'm sure that is a part of the contract negotiation,
and they should get their health insurance from the community.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Well, right, I guess they do it in New Bedford now,
But I remember I paid my own health insurance.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I mean, things have gotten better for teachers unions, as
they should have, but I think we've reached a tipping
point when the teachers' unions they most teachers in Massachusetts,
even in the smallest communities, are making you know, on average,
eighty thousand dollars, okay, and in a lot of communities
they're making one hundred thousand dollars, a salary that you
(22:32):
can't even you would not have even talked about. Obviously,
the economy is different today. You couldn't live today on
what you were paid when you were a teacher. So
I don't mind seeing teachers having competitive salaries. I mean
I would support that.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Well.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
I retired in two thousand and three, and I was
on maximum pay for my step increase was fifty six
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, and again back twenty years ago, that was a
pretty decent salary. You weren't going to become a millionaire,
but that was a decent salary. When I graduated from college,
which was, you know, in the last century, I actually was.
I was an English major before I went to law school,
(23:26):
and I had a minor teaching certificate. And at that time, teachers,
this was in the nineteen seventies, you could look forward
to making maybe twenty thousand dollars as a starting teacher,
and I thought to myself, Wow, twenty thousand dollars over
career thirty years, that's going to be six hundred thousand dollars. Obviously,
salaries have increased across the board since then as well
(23:48):
they should. But teachers now, on average in Massachusetts, you know,
there are exceptions, but you can look at the Department
of Education statistics can eighty ninety thousand dollars on average. Now,
starting teachers make less, experienced teachers make more, but on
average eighty ninety thousand dollars, and many teachers now make
(24:12):
in excess of one hundred thousand dollars, which is fine.
I don't have a problem with that, but I think
that those salaries should be decided in advance of a
school year and the teacher should not use the students
as leverage. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
And I have another question. Are these teachers being paid
while they're on strike?
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Are they drawing?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Well, no, I think that in one of the communities,
I think it was marvel Head, the teachers have been
told they will not be paid during while they're on strike.
But what happens is when they finally come to an agreement,
the union will say to the school committee, look, we
want you to give us back pay for the one
week or if we run strike. In the school committee
(25:01):
at that point, well, we'll go ahead and pay them
because that money was budgeted. So that's what that's generally
what happens in the situation. In situation likeage, the school
committee as part of the agreement. You know, at that
point we're all singing Kumbai yah and the glad that
the strike is over. So the union has all the
leverage here in my opinion. In my opinion, Claudette, thank
(25:24):
you for what you did as a teacher. I'm sure
that you have a lot of pride in the young
men and women who you run into today at the
grocery store or on the street, and they'll say, hey,
how are you remember me? I was a student of yours.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Oh yeah, that happens all the time. Let me say
you one thing, if you became if you became an
English teacher, yep, you would be working long hours every day,
correcting essays and everything else. English teachers had it the worst.
I mean when you know people are saying, oh, the
(26:02):
only work six hours a day now because you've got
to bring home all your correction and all this other
stuff and you have to do your lesson plans.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Do you know what?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Do you know what time I start to work every day?
I do a show from eight to midnight. What time
do you think I start working every day? Oh?
Speaker 4 (26:20):
I don't have no idea.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Nine o'clock in the morning. I'm on the phone at
nine o'clock in the morning with my producer Marita uh,
and we're going over, Okay, what are we thinking about?
You know what, what are the possible issues we can
talk about tonight? Okay. So and again I do it
because I like it. Do I have to do it? No,
I could quit tomorrow if I wanted to. But I
(26:44):
like my job and I enjoy conversing with people like
yourself and learning from you and learning from Justin and
Marlborough from different different experiences. For me, that's the best
part of the day when I get a chance to
talk with you. But during the day it can be agonizing.
What what stories are we going to cover? What are
we going to do? Are people going to be interested
in this? You know, I'm not getting overwhelmed with phone
(27:06):
calls on this topic, but I'm sticking with it because
I think it's an incredibly important topic, not only for
the Comwalth of Massachusetts. It's important for the teachers' unions.
It's important for the students, and it's important for the parents.
This is not the sexiest topic in the world to
talk about, Claudette, but I'm.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Oh, I know, I'm.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Committed to doing it, and I can't tell you how
much I appreciate that you would take the time to
call and share your experience and thank you for the job.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Okay, sir, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Dan, You're very welcome. Hope to hear from me again. Thanks.
Thanks claud thank you very much. Maybe I hope so
looking forward to your second call. No applause in the
second call, but you got the applause tonight, Thanks Claude.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Okay, thank you, good night, six.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Seven, good night six one seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.
I'm going to talk about this till ten o'clock. Okay,
Bill and Natick awaits on the other side. And if
you don't think this is an important subject, you're not thinking.
And if you're not thinking, you shouldn't be listening to
Night Side, because that's what my job is is to
make you think. I don't care what you think. I mean,
(28:08):
you know, I care what you think, but I just
want you to think think about this. This is a
proposal that I think is important, not because I came
up with it, but it is a reform that we
could consider here in Massachusetts which might make life easier
for parents, for students, and for teachers. The union won't
(28:29):
support this, I guarantee you that. I guarantee you that,
but if teachers think about it, they'll realize this will
make their lives easier and it'll make their students' lives better.
And that's what I think. Good teachers are all about.
Will be back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Place Side Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Next is Bill and Natick. Bill, I appreciate you holding
on you Next on Nightside, go right ahead.
Speaker 6 (28:59):
Well, I was a pleasure talk to you.
Speaker 5 (29:01):
My background is I've never been a teacher, and I
wouldn't want to be one. However, I am an elected
town meeting member. My neighbors wrote my name in without
telling me, and they've re elected me for forty seven years.
But I just want to say that I'm not surprised
that I agree with you on your plan. I agree
(29:24):
with many of the things you've said over the years.
But what strikes me in particular about these three towns
I would like information. I would like to know when
either side first requested to Bogging about the contract. You know,
(29:46):
was it at the end of the school year or
was it beforehand?
Speaker 6 (29:49):
The other thing that, yeah, Bill.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Hold of a second, I don't have an answer to
that question, but I will tell you I think that
human nature, you tend to put the things off, you know.
I don't care if it's doctor's appointments or dentist appointments,
or you've got to go to the store. I think
people we tend to kind of, Oh, the Patriots game
is on, I'll watch them, you know, That's all I'm saying.
(30:13):
And I think that the proposal I'm making would force them.
You know, in professional sports, if you're a professional athlete,
the team has to offer you a contract by a
certain data you become a free agent. They you know,
they got to make a decision, and then you've got
to decide by a certain date if you want to
accept that offer or not. There are there are there
(30:35):
were rules and regulations imposed because if you did that,
the Red Sox would open the season in April and
half the team would be minor league Baseball players and
the lot of the guys would be sitting sitting at
home waiting for a contract offer. It'say, now, no, I'm
just no, no, but I just they were just say,
(30:55):
you're joking here, but you want to see your best
players on the field on opening day. Same way with
the Patriots. You know, they got to report the camp
by a certain date, and if they don't report the
camp by a certain date, they get fot. I mean,
it just makes common sense is what I'm truly trying
to say, And so that's.
Speaker 5 (31:13):
I agree with you wholeheartedly. But one of the things
that strikes me about this situation is I would consider
a teacher strike an emergency, wouldn't you?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Yes? I would.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
Yes, if I was a school community member and I say, well,
we want to buy it first thing in the morning,
at nine o'clock, or if these two towns didsa at
nine o'clock and ten o'clock. One of the towns says, no,
we can't get together at three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Well, I think the time to begin the bargaining would
have been months ago. They should because.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
Now we have an emergency.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, I get it. No, I get it. I totally
get it. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
So that makes me suspect a little bit more. I
always want the facts, and I agree with you. I
think your plan is a way to go, and I
wish we could all adopt it.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Well, let's see, I wish I had more people responding
to the call tonight. But that's okay.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
This is one that this is a shortness I've ever waited.
I've called it times over the years, but most times
I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
But no, I just say that and I do appreciate.
But I what I'm saying is that this is one
that makes people think. And I don't know. I I'm
not going to put the same show on the radio
every night. I mean, I'm I spend time during the
day trying to come up with even if it's the
same subject, I want to get a different angle on it.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
I want to get a different And you do a
good job, you know.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
So well, whatever, and I'll do it as long as
I can. And when when my time is up, you'll
have another talk show host.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Who maybe I'm in real estate, do a lot of
rentals and I'll be eighty next year. But you know,
I'm going to do it as long as I can.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
You got it all right, because you like the job.
That's what it comes down to. Bill. Appreciate your call
very much.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Thank you, Okay, you for being man.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Thank you very much. Good night. Let me go to
Mike and Lynn. Mike your next time nights. I appreciate
you calling in.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Go ahead, Mike, Hey, mister Dan, how are you doing today.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I'm doing great. Go ahead, Mike. What's what's your take
on this?
Speaker 6 (33:10):
Mike taking this? I do agree with the teachers Per's
good people. And if you do the math, ninety percent
of the workforce they are women and they are good people.
I gotta tell you this story. In two thousand and two,
I was a single father living in North Quincy. Now
I live in Land, and I will remember always missus Lyon.
(33:33):
My daughter was going to PMS. I didn't know what
PMS is, and she helped me and she used to
check on me every Saturday. So ninety or one hundred
percent of all the teachers there are women, and there
are good people, and they deserve the best.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So the question, though, is this, This is the question.
I don't disagree with you, okay. As matter of fact,
I think teachers become teachers all the right reasons. Now
I do think that some teachers get burned out, but
that's a story for another day. It just seems to
me that once the school year starts, the contract should
(34:12):
be in place. The teachers should be satisfied, they should
know what they're receiving. How would you like to be
a parent. You said you were the parent of a daughter,
single dad, How would you like to have been I
assume you probably were working and your daughter went off
to school, and you went off to work and the
difficult set of circumstances. I get it. How would you
(34:34):
like to have seen the Quincy teachers you and you
go out and strike? How would you be able to
take care of your daughter during the day and still
go to work. You couldn't do both things simultaneously, right.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
I couldn't do both.
Speaker 6 (34:45):
But I agree with them, and the reason why I
think because they have three months off in the year
and they getting paid. They don't getting paid enough. They
can even afford to have a house. They have to
have that or boyfriend so they can make cup four expensive?
Speaker 2 (35:08):
How much? Let me ask you this. You live in Lynn, right,
do you own a house in Linn?
Speaker 6 (35:16):
I own a house in Line A play and I
guess you pay?
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Yeah, you pay your your taxes. I understand that. What
do you think the average teacher makes in Linn?
Speaker 6 (35:30):
You know, in the Linn publics fifty sixty five Maybe
if they're lucky, ninety thousands, but I don't think so.
To be honest with you.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Okay, I'm going to tell you what they make. Okay.
In I'm looking at the state reports here from uh
this is twenty and twenty to twenty twenty one. So
these are the latest numbers they have. Okay, the latest
(36:00):
numbers that we have is from twenty twenty one. The
average salary in Lind, the average salary in Linn four
years ago eighty two, one hundred and sixty two dollars.
That's not a bad salary four years So.
Speaker 6 (36:16):
You've got to you've gotta have to keep in mind
the expenses. They have a lot of expenses. They have children,
They have kids, they have a house.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Shure they do. How much should they? How much should
the how much? Then? If if the teachers salary, average
teacher salary is eighty two thousand dollars four years ago
in Lind, it's probably about ninety five thousand dollars today.
But let's assume it's ninety how much should teachers in
Lind What should the average salary be? Give me a number, I.
Speaker 6 (36:47):
Will say, honestly, not only in Lint, No, I'm talking
about in Lind one twenty one.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Hundred twenty Okay, good luck with that.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
You're you.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
I hope you you realize that you'll be paying for that,
so your real estate taxes will go up dramatically. And
I think you're a better person than I am to
think that the teachers should be, on an average receiving that.
Speaker 6 (37:12):
Much money because you know, you know the reason why,
the reason why they go to work every single day,
and they too kids.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
And I'm gonna put up with callers. Hey, Mike, I
hate to do this to you, but I'm flat out
of time. Have you called before since your first time calling?
Speaker 6 (37:29):
This is my first time calling.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
I gotta give you a bun and a clause and
I'm looking forward to your calling back. You a great caller.
Thank you, Mike. I appreciate it very much. We had
done with this topic. Sadly, we will change topics right
after the ten o'clock news Here at night Side
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