Haverhill, Malden teachers, schools closer to strike after hours of negotiating without deal

The Haverhill school system and its teachers were unable to reach a resolution to their contract dispute after seven hours of negotiating Saturday. It’s an outcome that inched the two sides closer to a proposed strike on Monday.

Both the Haverhill teachers’ unions, the Haverhill Education Association, and Malden’s teacher union, the Malden Education Association, agreed to strike on Friday after failed contract negotiations with their respective districts.

According to a jointly released between the two unions, Haverhill Educators are fighting for desires such as more reasonable schedules, smaller class sizes and better compensation.

According to the Haverhill Teachers Negotiating Subcommittee, the Haverhill teachers union would not settle for financial compensation that was less than double than that of what Boston teachers are paid.

“We are truly disappointed with the union’s seeming disinterest in serious negotiations. Their total rejection of our unprecedented financial offer shows that the union leadership is only interested in walking off the job, despite the order from the state Department of Labor Relations to cease and desist from striking or threatening to strike,” said Haverhill School Committee member Christian Wood in a statement.

In a statement on Facebook, the Haverhill Education Association threw the blame at the feet of Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini.

“To be completely transparent, this is entirely THE FAULT OF THE MAYOR OF HAVERHILL. In our observations, the School Committee team is just as frustrated as we are with his unwillingness to budge and provide us with the compensation we deserve,” the union stated on its Facebook page.

The Haverhill Public School Facebook page stated that the two sides are set to resume negotiations on Sunday and a decision would be made regarding Monday’s school schedule tomorrow.

The Malden Education Association was also not able to reach an agreement with their school system. The union stated on their Facebook page that the next negotiating session was set for Sunday at 9:00 a.m. at Malden City Hall.

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