Worcester Vocational Technical School
Voc-Tech teachers strike for equity in Worcester
I’ve talked to a lot of people on the picket line. They’ve never seen the association as united. We’ve made history together.
Inequity drove the 167 members of the Worcester Vocational Teachers Association to go on strike for five days starting on April 27. They were frustrated that even after lengthy negotiations the School Committee defended a contract that provided them with less pay and fewer benefits than were given to other teachers in the Worcester Public Schools.
Those other teachers, who belonged to the Educational Association of Worcester, supported the WVTA’s bid for equity, as did other municipal employee unions in the blue collar city.
They also received support from many of their students. According to MTA Today, Fanning Trade High School Principal Janet Doe ordered students onto six buses, which were to take them on field trips to unknown destinations due to the lack of teachers at the school. The students responded by rocking the buses and chanting, “Hell no, we won’t go!”
Other students joined teachers on the picket lines, even in bad weather. Support for the striking teachers grew when the district ordered them to report to work even though all the other schools were closed after a storm blanketed the city in 16 inches of snow.
Negotiations over the weekend led to a new contract that resulted in significant raises for WVTA members, a revised academic workload schedule and sick-leave provisions in line with those offered to EAW members.
I really don’t know how I feel about the strike. I just know that I don’t want to feel inferior to my husband who teaches in a public school in Worcester. It’s not right that he makes more money than I do.
