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Judge orders first and future fines for Newton teachers union
By adamg on Mon, 01/22/2024 - 9:55pm
Middlesex Superior Court Judge Christopher Barry-Smith today ordered the striking Newton Teachers Association to pay $25,000 for not returning to work today after declaring the union in civil contempt for disobeying his order to return to work today and calling for increasingly steeper fines over the next few days:
2. If the NTA and its officers and the employees it represents have failed to fully comply with the PI Order by January 22, 2024, at 8:00 p.m., NTA shall pay the sum of $25,000 as a coercive fine made payable to the general fund of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If noncompliance with the law and the PI Order continues thereafter, the daily coercive sanction will increase as set forth below.
3. If the NTA and its officers and the employees it represents have failed to fully comply with the PI Order by January 23, 2024, at 8:00 p.m., NTA shall pay the sum of $50,000 as a coercive fine made payable to the general fund of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
4. If the NTA and its officers and the employees it represents have failed to fully comply with the PI Order by January 24, 2024, at 8:00 p.m., NTA shall pay the sum of $100,000 as a coercive fine made payable to the general fund of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
5. If the NTA and its officers and the employees it represents have failed to fully comply with the PI Order by January 25, 2024, at 8:00 p.m., NTA shall pay the sum of $200,000 as a coercive fine made payable to the general fund of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
6. If the NTA's noncompliance continues after January 25, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. the court will schedule a hearing for January 26, 2024 at Noon, to discuss a more meaningful approach to ensuring compliance with the law.
Schools will be closed on Tuesday, as well.
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Comments
Shame
Shame on Newton leadership for forcing the teachers and the students into this situation.
Shame on the judge for these escalating fines.
Trendy!
This is a real black-is-white take on the situation, which is very popular in politics these days.
Before we start jumping to
Before we start jumping to conclusions (as is the most common form of human jumping/exercise), please educate me (no pun intended). Are all teachers qualified to be union members whether or not if a school is private or not? Google doesn't get my question or maybe it's because I'm old and middle class and working myself to death paycheck to paycheck and my kids are making more money than all of you by being plumbers.
no
Private school teachers (including charter school teachers) aren't unionized, here or anywhere.
Incorrect.
Incorrect.
It varies depending on the state. Even in those where the option is available, not all groups make use of it.
Good to know, thanks! I didn
Good to know, thanks! I didn't think I'd ever see progress.
Newton North cost $197.5
Newton North cost $197.5M. How does an entire affluent community get things so wrong?
Because Budgets
If the school budget goes up by $10M, they've got to take that money from elsewhere. They can supplement it with one-time credits, but they'll only need to make the cuts next year when the credits go away. Towns can't deficit spend the way the federal government can.
They can raise taxes but that's a lengthy process involving proposing an override and having it approved by the voters. They can't budget assuming an override is a given.
The residents and city council can debate if teacher salaries are more important than any of the other hundreds of things the city spends money on (the salaries probably are worth it), but it's not like rich towns have a money hose that poor towns lack. The $200M school was paid for by state aid and bond they pay interest on.
BTW, high taxes are one way towns try to keep our lower income residents. It's not red lining, but it's definitely a form of exclusion.
You have to own a home and car to pay excise tax
What is your definition of poor?
Huh?
Wealthy towns try to keep out less wealthy people by making it too expensive for them relocate there.
I'm not opposed to taxes, just noting it's one of many ways wealthy communities try to ensure only equally wealthy people are able to afford to live there.
That’s an odd take
Nobody says “hey, let’s raise taxes on all of us to keep the filthy poors out.” Towns raise taxes to pay for things they want to buy. Rich towns have more expensive tastes and buy more expensive things. The net effect might contribute to economic exclusion, a tiny bit at the margins, but I’m having a hard time buying exclusionary intent.
The intent is there
It's the zoning laws which enforce it, not the tax codes.
Gotta say, that's creative
Yup, that's creative.
So, are there articles during town meeting where they do this?
Like it or not, towns are independent entities. Around here, there is little, if any, regional control. In the burbs, schools spend about 50% of the town budget. Yowza. Either by town meeting or some city council, people decide how to run that city/town and come up with budgets and taxes. I don't see where they decide to keep the poors out.
Yes, some towns have higher taxes and that's by choice, more or less. They will have little to none commercial base resulting in high residential taxes. Maybe that's what you mean by keeping out less wealthy people. I think a town should be able to manage itself the way its residents want it.
Yes, there a few ways the state has some influence, like 40b and the T proposal (is there a name for this??).
Big fish, small pond.
It's hard to compromise when everyone's a very VERY important person.
How about twice per year 4%
How about twice per year 4% raises and a billion dollar tax cut?
I too can read the Boston Globe
But what do state Cabinet secretaries have to do with teachers in Newton?
Many can read, but not many
Many can read, but not many can think
Many don't read
all the way to the end of your boring-ass useless six-word posts
I want to hear
What "a more meaningful approach to ensuring compliance with the law" would be.
Jail Time
It's either a million dollar fine or jail time for the leaders of the union. Already 200,000 is pretty steep so it might not go that long. I bet they are close.
I saw that too
Either it's a toothless empty threat, or it's a Mafia tactic. There's no middle ground with that soft, mealy-mouthed verbiage.
It's not illegal to be illegal
Strikes by public employees are illegal in Massachusetts.
But, crime pays.
That's an important link.
That's an important link.
Without that, I would have guessed that the prohibition applied only to public safety and critical infrastructure/maintenance.
Education is of crucial overall importance, but not 'any given day' critical.
It should not be illegal.
It should not be illegal. This anti-worker legislation must go.
duplicate.
duplicate.
Here's an idea to generate revenue.
Maybe newton can increase its residential tax base by amending the zoning to allow for denser/multifamily homes. And maybe, just maybe comply with the MBTA communities law...
Problem Solved!
They did do that, although only after the NIMBYs voted out some of the council who supported the original, more ambitious Villages upzoning plan. The final amended zoning was basically the bare minimum necessary to comply with the act, it cut out a bunch of villages, lowered heights and added parking requirements.
underpaid teachers
. . . they are not.
In northeastern unionized school districts, it's a pretty good job for someone with a BA. With seniority, the salary straddles the average salary in the Boston area.
Yes, it can be tough, but probably not so much in Newton. You also get a couple MONTHS off every year.
Pension and healthcare benefits are nonpareil.
They can't buy a house in Newton? Boo-hoo, commute from Framingham or Hyde Park.
My lack of sympathy partly comes from the teachers' unions agitating for keeping schools closed for way too long during COVID.
When you use "with seniority"
When you use "with seniority" and "average" referring to the same thing in the same sentence it's difficult to read you as a serious person.
with seniority
the salary is far above the average Boston area salary.
as are BPS salaries
high five- and six-figures
The two parties (Newton and NTA) are
$11 million per year for three years out of sync in their offers. This is never going to get resolved unless the NTA comes back down to earth. COLA increases being the big driver in that number at $21 million difference over three years. I thought it was just about the kids? Seems like it’s just about maximizing COLA for the teachers.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cMyam5QudKdXrcVwktGiomwXuP9m0Rpa...
Why shouldn't the teachers
Why shouldn't the teachers maximize the cost living raise?
Because the town can’t afford it?
Why are the unions covering up their true ask with a bunch of hand waving if it’s such a good proposal?
Newton can afford it. Boston
Newton can afford it. Boston can afford it. Stop drinking the anti-union Kool-Aid.