In a decision that could upend any plans to disrupt the opening of school across Massachusetts, the state labor relations board has ruled that Andover teachers engaged in an unlawful strike when they refused to enter school buildings last week for training.
“These are unprecedented times and we are not unsympathetic to the Union’s concerns over the health and safety implications of requiring its members to work inside school buildings or its desire to bargain to resolution with the School Committee over these issues before its members return to work inside school buildings," the board wrote in its ruling. "However, the Union cites ... no legislation, permission, reasonable accommodation or bargained-for agreement that permitted its members without consequence, to unilaterally dictate where they perform their work.”
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The board immediately ordered leaders of the Andover Education Association and its members to desist from engaging in any strike, work stoppage, slowdown, or any other kind of action that involves withholding services.
The ruling comes after the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, and the Boston Teachers Union have been instructing members not to enter school buildings unless state and local officials can prove they are safe.
Not all local unions were on board with the action. The Quincy Education Association rejected the advice, arguing the Massachusetts Teachers Association was potentially asking members to engage in a statewide illegal strike.
Many Andover teachers, who are represented by the MTA, refused to enter buildings on Aug. 31 and instead worked outside of Andover High School with their laptops, deeming it a workplace safety action. The move came in response to the school district’s “lack of good-faith bargaining” over how to keep students and staff safe when schools reopen, the union said.
School officials, however, deemed the action as an illegal work stoppage and filed a complaint with the state. Union officials countered, taking a vote of no confidence in Superintendent Sheldon Berman.
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Travis Andersen, of the Globe staff, contributed to this report.
James Vaznis can be reached at james.vaznis@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globevaznis.
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State labor board rules Andover teachers participated in illegal strike - The Boston Globe
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