As Revere teachers continue to work with an expired contract, the Revere Teachers Association has joined with other educator unions in the North Shore in participating in a work-to-rule. The educator unions in Beverly, Gloucester, Marblehead, and Revere all voted overwhelmingly to enter into work-to-rule, starting on Friday, Oct. 4.
Entering work-to-rule, educators will cease performing non-customary duties outside contractual responsibilities to protest stalled contract negotiations and demonstrate how much educators routinely go beyond what is required of them, according to union officials. Revere teachers have been without a contract since June 30.
The work-to-rule action began with morning standouts and walk-ins at the Rumney Marsh Academy last Friday, Oct. 4. Since then, the work-to-rule actions have rotated among the schools in Revere. RTA representatives have stated that they are seeking smaller class sizes, paid parental leave, longer lunch and recess time for younger students, and a living wage for all staff.
“Educators do an immense amount of work beyond their contractual hours,” said Revere Teachers Association Co-President Jane Chapin outside Rumney Marsh Academy on Friday. Chapin said the RTA and the other North Shore educator unions are bringing awareness to the amount of extra work teachers do while also dealing with staffing issues, such as classrooms without core content teachers. Chapin added that the schools are in crisis and that the school committee has the ability to solve the problems immediately.
“It’s extremely frustrating that we have had 10 bargaining sessions and we are still talking about the same proposals, the same crisis over and over again,” said Chapin. According to the RTA, some examples of work that educators typically take on that do not fall into contractually obligated duties include sending out weekly newsletters, volunteering for committees or field trips, chaperoning events, and offering extra help outside of contract hours.
