Marblehead contract negations hit a wall

MARBLEHEAD — Marblehead Educators Union negotiated with the School Committee for over five hours at the previous bargaining session but did not reach a conclusion on contracts for custodians.

The bargaining session focused primarily on proposals for the custodial unit, whose contract expired on June 30, the Marblehead Educators Union (MEA) press release stated.

While an agreement was not made between the MEA and the School Committee, the MEA stated it noticed a “positive shift in the discussions by the end of the evening.”

A statement to members of the MEA bargaining team reported they “appreciated getting to hear directly from [School Committee Chair] Jenn Schaeffner, [School Committee member] Sarah Fox, and [Town Manager] Thatcher Kezer” adding, “We look forward to being joined by our new interim Superintendent, John Robidoux and Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Finance, Mike Pfifferling at the next session,”

The release from the MEA stated members were “frustrated” when the committee opened the session with a package proposal that “failed to address many of the issues the union expected to discuss, including a wage proposal for custodians that was just one-half of one percent above the previous offer and would increase custodial starting pay by just 87 cents per hour over the next three years.”

“A big part of the frustration is that it feels like the School Committee hasn’t been listening or making an effort to understand our proposals,” Mike Giardi, a math teacher at Marblehead High School and co-chair of the MEA bargaining team, said.

“We’ve had to spend a lot of time educating them on the issues and why we need the solutions we’ve put on the table in all of our contracts,” he added.

“We came to bargaining with modifications to our proposals which addressed very specific concerns shared by the Committee in our previous sessions, but they weren’t interested in discussing them or making any counter proposals last night,” Sally Shevory, Glover School teacher and MEA co-president, said.

The Marblehead School Committee Bargaining Sub-committee stated it was “hopeful” both parties would “reach a consensus after presenting a package proposal however the six-hour meeting did not result in an agreement,” according to the school committee’s press release.

“The parties remain far apart on a number of areas including wages and paid leaves,” the release stated.

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