By Caroline Goggin
November 7, 2019
State Representative Joseph Kennedy encourages Dedham teachers to stand their ground at a strike rally held outside of the American Legion on October 25.
The Dedham Education Association reached a contract agreement on October 27 after negotiating for over a year and a day of striking the previous Friday.
The DEA, led by its president Timothy Dwyer, has been negotiating for a new contract for a total of twenty-one months. During this time, the DEA has been fighting for salary increases and health insurance, as well as fair policies addressing cell phone use in classrooms and sexual harassment.
Since the negotiations began almost two years ago, Dedham Public School teachers have been wearing bright red t-shirts and standing in front of their schools on Thursday mornings with signs that urged a fair contract.
On October 24, the DEA voted 275-2 to strike on the following Friday. “When the vote came through, seeing that it was nearly unanimous, to be honest I was kind of surprised at first,” said DHS teacher and union official Michael Medeiros. “Going into the meeting, I’m not sure that we felt like we were on the same page a hundred percent, but it was definitely like a giant weight being lifted off of my shoulders, seeing the room and seeing all of the green cards being held up, everyone was together I think, united we stood, and that was pretty awesome.”
Classes were not held in Dedham Public Schools. Striking began at approximately 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Throughout the day, teachers, students, and parents of students rallied outside of all the Dedham schools, chanting and waving signs around as people driving by beeped their cars in support.
In the state of Massachusetts, it is illegal for public workers to strike. The DEA knew this going in and was fully prepared to pay any fine given to them.
The strike garnered a lot of press coverage since it was the first teacher’s strike in Massachusetts in 12 years. Presidential candidates Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren expressed their support for Dedham teachers via Twitter. U.S. Representative and senate candidate Joe Kennedy paid a visit to the American Legion around, speaking to the many teachers rallying there.
“I think there’s a broad recognition that working men and women should be able to earn a living without these serious cutbacks during the time of a booming economy,” said DEA President Timothy Dwyer, in response to the recognition from the political candidates.
The DEA held another rally on Saturday, drawing massive crowds of support. Shortly after the rally, negotiations began again and lasted fifteen hours, stretching until two in the morning.
The negotiations continued to Sunday afternoon, and a deal was reached at 3:30 p.m. Students went back to school on the following Monday. The union ratified the contract later that day.
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