Should teachers have the right to strike? Lawmakers press pause on the debate

A bill that would allow teachers and other public employees to strike is most likely stalling in committee, according to lawmakers, but the Massachusetts Teachers Association is still optimistic.

The bill, colloquially called the right to strike bill, would secure the right for public employees to strike after six months of failed negotiations. The Newton teachers strike last month, which was illegal like all other strikes by public employees in Massachusetts, racked up more than $600,000 in fines for the union over 11 days.

The bill was filed by state Reps. Mike Connolly of Cambridge and Erika Uyterhoeven in the House and state Sen. Rebecca Rausch, of Needham, in the Senate. Connolly said this is the fourth time he’s filed the bill since 2017, and he’s not surprised the bill was sent to study by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development — meaning it most likely won’t move forward this session.

The right to strike for teachers and other public employees is important because the “way we’re doing it is not working,” he said in an interview.

In addition to Newton, teachers unions in Brookline, Andover, Haverhill, and Malden have gone on strike in recent years, most lasting less than a week.

“Without the true right to strike, there’s a tilting of the scales toward a city that might decide I’m just gonna wait it out,” Connolly said. “Teachers are out there working without a contract for months on end, sometimes more than a year on end.”

Max Page, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said out of their 400 local districts, only seven districts have taken the ultimate measure of striking.

“It’s a basic labor right, and I think it is an essential tool necessary to advance public schools,” Page told Boston.com. “The legal right to strike will lead to fewer strikes.”

In a poll by Boston.com, readers were split on the legalization of teachers strikes. 55% of readers were against, and some wrote that work stoppages put students and their education at risk. 43% of readers were for the right to strike, with some writing that towns and school committees do not bargain in good faith with teacher unions without it.

The bill requires six months of negotiations

In the filed bill, public safety employees are excluded from the right to strike, and the bill would require six months of good faith negotiations for public employees before a strike. In the private sector, strikes can happen at any time while working toward a contract.

Page said this will keep school committees accountable and on a time table. In Newton, educators were working without a contract for 16 months before 97% of the Newton Teachers Association voted to strike. 

“Basically, there is nothing at this moment, nothing other than a strike, to bring some school committees to the table,” Page said. “That’s kind of stunning.”

Connolly said that each year, more co-signers join in on the bill, and he hopes continued advocacy will eventually ensure the right to strike for educators. For now, the bill most likely won’t see the chamber this spring, but Page is encouraged by the response to recent teacher strikes.

“We have had more conversation, more interest, more recognition that there’s something wrong in this system this year than we’ve ever had before,” he said.

Molly Farrar

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.

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