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Date: 8/2/2023
WARE — After a lengthy negotiation, the Ware School Committee ratified the Ware Teachers Association Union contract.
At its July 26 meeting, the committee approved a motion to accept the settlement reached with teachers at Ware Public Schools for the next three years.
“It was a long road,” said committee member Aaron Sawabi. “I’m glad we were able to work with the union to address issues, reach a compromise and now can move forward.”
The Ware Teachers Association is the teaching union for Ware Public Schools whose goal is making sure they have excellent working conditions not only for the students, but for themselves.
Union President Amber Boucher stated, “We believe that our working environment is the students’ learning environment and that environment needs to be equitable and fair for all of us in order for learning to take place for Ware Public School students.”
The new contract is a three-year agreement with cost of living increases for each of the three years. For year one teachers have a 2.5% increase, year two, a 2.75% increase and year three, a 3% increase, as well as a 3% percent insurance shift to teachers and other union staff. Their previous contracts have all been for three years with the exception of the contract prior to this one. That contract was for two years (2021-2023) and expired June 30, 2023. The previous contract offered teachers a 1.75% cost of living increases for each year.
At the request of the School Committee, WTA began negotiations in the fall of 2022 and met six times.
“Despite the fact that we still had several regular negotiation meetings scheduled through the spring,” Boucher said. “The School Committee came to the determination that we were at a point where we could no longer negotiation and forced the Union into mediation.”
Mediation consisted of a total of three meetings over the course of two more months once a mediator was assigned. When the previous contract expired at midnight on June 30, teachers had been working without a contract since then until ratification by the School Committee on July 26.
“This new contract provides stability,” said School Committee Chair Christopher Desjardins. “Children and parents can feel confident knowing we have a contract in place for the next three years.”