'Fair and equitable deal': Quincy teachers ask for higher pay, better benefits at standout

QUINCY – "I'm standing out for a fair contract."

"I'm standing out to support Quincy educators."

"I'm standing out to be respected at the bargaining table."

Hundreds of Quincy teachers on Wednesday held signs and repeated chants ahead of  a school committee meeting to demand better pay and benefits amid contract negotiations. The contract for the Quincy Education Association, the  teachers' union, expired in August.

"My members want a fair and equitable deal," Gayle Carvalho, president of the union, said. "We're letting the school committee know we're looking for movement."

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Union members at the standout said the deal offered to all of the city's unions – a three-year contract that would provide a 3% raise each year – isn't a fair offer for educators. Sean Greene, a former union president, said teachers have been asked to extend their work day on either end by 20 minutes, which adds up to an additional 18 working days per school year.

"There are things other cities in the union have been offered but I'm not aware of an increase in their workload," Carvalho said. "We're in a district that's growing, and teachers are leaving the workforce. It's hard to retain good staff, and what the members believe is fair are working conditions and compensation that is comparable to the cities and towns around us."

This year has brought a nationwide teaching shortage that experts say has been driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and safety concerns in public schools. A Gallup Poll in February showed that K-12 educators were the most burned-out segment of the U.S. labor force, Bloomberg reported, and a study by the National Center for Education Statistics showed 44% of public schools have teaching vacancies.

Greene said teachers are looking for higher wages, better parental leave and a restructuring of longevity pay to retain teachers. He said turnover is rising in the Quincy district as the shortage of educators continues.

"A lot of what our bargaining team has put in front of (the city), they won't even acknowledge," Greene said.

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Teachers marched Wednesday holding signs that read "Supporting Quincy Students = Supporting Quincy Educators" and "We love our QPS teachers" as members of the school committee arrived for the meeting.

Mayor Thomas Koch, who chairs the school committee, said each side came in with strong demands ahead of arbitration.

"The city always comes in lower and (the union) always comes in higher, and we meet in the middle. I assure you that I would not support awarding teachers anything less than any other union," he said Wednesday. "I would say we've always been and continue to be respectful. ... We respect teachers and understand the challenges they face."

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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy teachers ask for higher pay, better benefits at standout