Brockton

After 16 months of fruitless bargaining, members of the Brockton Education Association were frustrated in early 1972. The major sticking point was the salary schedule. On Friday, Jan. 7, about 600 of the more than 1,100 Brockton teachers called in sick, forcing the district to close the schools.

The Plymouth County District Court deemed this to be an unlawful work stoppage and issued a 10-day restraining order. The teachers were back at work the following Monday.

The local filed a complaint against the Brockton School Committee for failing to bargain in good faith. According to a report in MTA Today, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission ordered the school committee to meet with the teachers on a regular basis and file reports with the commission verifying that it was complying with the order.

This one-day sick-out was referenced in a report by the National Labor Management Foundation published in the Congressional Record in 1972. The foundation cited it as an example demonstrating that public employee unions were “drunk with illegal strike power.”