Andover teachers participated in an illegal strike last week when they refused to enter school buildings for training, the state Department of Labor Relations has ruled.
“Union officers induced, encouraged and condoned the strike in violation” of state law, the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board ruled in its 35-page decision. The ruling orders the union to “cease and desist… any strike, work stoppage, or withholding of services.”
State law prohibits public employees from engaging in strikes.
Roughly half of Andover teachers refused to enter school buildings on Aug. 31 when they were called back for professional development activities around coronavirus safety preparations, citing safety concerns over poor ventilation. Many teachers instead opted to work outside on their laptops.
“The phrase ‘report to duty’… means reporting not only when but where the employer has ordered its employees to report. In this case, that means inside the school buildings, including inside classrooms,” according to the ruling.
The board rejected union officials’ argument that should not be required to physically enter school buildings as most work can be performed remotely from any location in the coronavirus era, saying it “would have enormous implications for how the work of the Commonwealth, including public education, is performed.”
The board, however, also ruled the matter to be “moot,” noting there are no additional strikes planned.
Gov Charlie Baker said in an unrelated press conference Wednesday that “the decision the board made was the right decision.”
He slammed the strike, saying that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education had reached an agreement with the state’s two big teachers unions earlier in the summer to take “10 precious days” out of the academic year for training to help return safely to school buildings.
“I think Andover made the right decision by arguing that a deal’s a deal, that there was an agreement that those 10 days would be spent conducting the training that was necessary for however that school district was going back in,” Baker said. “I applaud the decision. I think it was the right one.”
Andover School Committee Chairwoman Shannon Scully said she is “grateful” for the CERB’s decision.
“We recognize this case has implications for public school districts across the Commonwealth and their efforts to provide students with in-person instruction during this unprecedented time,” Sully said, noting she is “pleased” educators have already returned to work.
Andover welcomes students back next week and will offer a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning.
Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report.
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