Holyoke

Union News reporter Sandra Dias wrote that calls for “respect and dignity” on the picket line were “very much at the heart of the weeklong strike” in Holyoke in 1995. The major issue was salaries.

During the recession of the early 1990s, many school budgets were tight, particularly in low-income communities. According to MTA Today, “Holyoke teachers sacrificed raises, causing their salaries to drop to last place when compared with all the surrounding communities.”

By 1995, districts across Massachusetts were experiencing an influx of new state aid thanks to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in the MTA-backed McDuffy v. Robertson school funding lawsuit and almost simultaneous passage of the Education Reform Act of 1993.

Holyoke educators said it was time for the district to make up for past sacrifices that had been required of teachers. According to MTA Today, many in the community felt the same way, stating that “An overwhelming number of parents, students, city residents, business owners, and union members came out to support the teachers in their quest for dignity and respect.”

The strike was over on Jan. 13, with modest salary gains and a newfound sense of unity for the members. As one member quoted in MTA Today said, “Two years from now, when they need to bargain with us, we are going to be one force to reckon with.”