Haverhill

Bargaining for the common good was embedded in a Haverhill strike that started on Oct. 17, as it was in a one-day Malden strike on that date. The unions argued that some conditions not strictly related to their contracts have a great impact on teaching and learning and should be on the table. For the Haverhill Education Association, that included calling for a more diverse education workforce and improving school safety for both students and staff.

As in other strikes during the 2020s, pay and working conditions for Education Support Professionals was also a central issue. The HEA spoke of “the need to raise the pay of Education Support Professionals above the poverty level” and opposed the district’s practice of pulling paraprofessionals assigned to work with students on Individualized Education Plans to cover classrooms when teachers were absent.

When the contract was finally settled, both teachers and ESPs had received significant raises. In addition, the HEA pledged to start a scholarship program for Haverhill graduates who seek to become teachers, with a $50,000 initial investment from the union.

Max Larkin of WBUR reported that the contract “secures other union demands, like an anti-racism pledge, school safety system and workload protections,” adding that the agreement “established a joint task force on school safety that will develop an electronic monitoring system for student disturbances.”

The HEA agreed to pay about $200,000 in fines and reimbursements for expenses incurred by the four-day strike.