DANVERS, MA — The union representing more than 160 teachers and staff at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical High School said that its members held a "no confidence" vote in Superintendent Heidi Riccio and School Committee Chair Mark Strout after contract negotiations hit an impasse over what the union called "the district's repeated attempts to intimidate, coerce, and bully union leaders, activists, and supporters."
Riccio provided a statement to Patch in response to the "no confidence" vote saying that the district is "saddened" by the Hathorne Teachers' Federation's "preference for theatrics over good faith bargaining" and blamed the breakdown, not on compensation divides but on a disciplinary investigation that Riccio said the union demanded to be stopped as part of the contract agreement.
The union claimed the investigation is an attempt to target its leadership during the negotiations.
"After close to a year of negotiations, we have nearly reached a contract agreement," said Arlyssa Laporte, a Biotechnology CTAE teacher, said in the union statement to Patch. "At the last moment, the superintendent has attempted to intimidate and retaliate against our union by targeting our union president for discipline.
"An injury to one is an injury to all and we are committed to standing up for one another."
Riccio's statement said in the district's response that the compensation piece — which she said would include more than a 14.5 percent raise over the life of the new deal for most teachers, as well a reduction in workload for most staff and educational bonuses —was tentatively agreed to, but that the union was holding up the deal in what she said is an attempt "to insulate one of their members from a recently opened disciplinary investigation triggered by a complaint on behalf of a student."
"The timing of the complaint that gave rise to this investigation is unfortunate within the context of the collective bargaining process, but the district cannot abandon its responsibility to investigate a complaint that a teacher has mistreated students," she said, adding that the district cannot comment on the specifics of a student or staff disciplinary matter that remains under investigation. "The result of the district's refusal to ignore student and caregiver complaints has been the union's termination of negotiations."
Riccio said the district has offered to "return to the table to complete negotiations" but that as of Saturday the union had refused this request.
"The HTF's claims of bullying, coercion and intimidation are especially unavailing when those terms aptly describe the union's own behavior," said Riccio, charging that the union's call for "open bargaining" had delayed negotiations and that it had prevented some teachers who may not have been in favor of the "no confidence" vote to attend the meeting where the vote took place.
But the union contends the disciplinary investigation is part of a "pervasive culture of fear that is felt at the school level, from teachers to parents and students."
"The intimidation tactics from management have continued throughout this process," said David Hickock, an English teacher, in the union statement. "The superintendent and the School Committee chair have said specifically that their intention is not to harm teachers, but their actions have shown that those words are meaningless.
"Their intent is crystal clear — they want to hurt us until we do what they want."
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
