New Bedford
The ride from the court in Taunton to the New Bedford jail was quiet, but when we arrived there were 250 to 300 people standing in front of the jail. They applauded when we got out of the car. I knew more than ever that I was right.
23-day New Bedford strike longest in Massachusetts' history
Six years after undertaking the first significant strike by an MTA local, the New Bedford Educators’ Association made history again by holding a second strike, this one stretching from Sept. 8 to Oct. 9: a total of 23 school days. That record has not been exceeded since then. Twenty-seven NBEA members were jailed during this strike, with president Robert F. Oliveira serving two sentences totaling 10 days.
The main issue was inadequate compensation and the School Committee’s refusal to negotiate. When the strike was finally over, the teachers still received no increase in the first year, but they won a 12 percent raise in the second year. They also won additional preparation time and a guarantee of adequate instructional supplies.
In all good conscience, your honor, I cannot go to work tomorrow. I do not have a workable contract.
The loss of instructional time to the strike required extending the school year into the summer. Protesting that schedule, some high school students staged their own walkout.
The jailed teachers reflected on their experiences in essays published in MTA’s publication.
“The hardest part of going to jail was telling my eight-year-old daughter about it,” wrote Irene Gutierrez, the NBEA vice president. “I was afraid of the reaction she would get from the community, but it didn’t happen. … Her teachers were wonderful. They told me before I left, ‘Don’t worry about Kathy, we’ll take care of her.’”
The services we received [from the MTA] were entirely all we expected — and much, much more. We had MTA people there whom we had to tell to go home and get some rest; they were working 20 hours a day sometimes.
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