According to the Boston Herald, a Massachusetts teacher’s union affiliated to the National Education Association uses a charity fund in order to pay the fines it received following an illegal strike.
The union stated Tuesday that any help regarding its GoFundMe fundraising campaign would be greatly appreciated. “We have some fines.”
The Woburn Teachers Association went into strike for a whole week, beginning on January 30th.
Scott Galvin, Woburn Mayor, stated that the illegal strike was not going be used to negotiate and that they are not going use it to hijack negotiations. “The parents will be inconvenienced and the kids will be affected. It’s absurd for teachers to claim they don’t have other options.
According to the Herald, strikes are against the law in Massachusetts for public employees. The union was fined $85,000 by the state alone.
The union also agreed that $225,000 in damages to the city over four years would be paid by the union, and $20,000 to local charities.
Jan. 28 was the date that the union established a “strike funds” which it used later to solicit funds to pay the fines.
The union issued a statement after classes had returned. It stated that the encouragement received from parents and other members of the community kept us strong and affirmed our commitment to doing the right thing. We are proud to be a teacher in this city because of their respect for us and their willingness to trust their children’s futures with us.
The statement said that the WTA members were grateful to have been able to go back to classes and be with students.
The union managed to get raises for paraprofessionals and teachers, despite the Woburn mayor claiming that the strike would not benefit the negotiations.
The new contract provides that Woburn educators will be eligible for a 13.75% increase over the next four-years, while paraprofessionals will get a 40% increase.
Fox News Digital reached out for comment from the union regarding their fundraising, but did not receive an immediate response.
