– News about Quincy Massachusetts from Quincy Quarry News with commentary added

Down goes Liston
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A source speaking off the record with Quincy Quarry News views the recently reached tentative new union contract with local teachers was a near complete win by the teachers, if not also a knockout win.

Teachers not only scored pretty much what they sought in the way of often increased designated paid class preparation and professional development work time during their workdays, they also scored seeing roughly a half an hour of not specifically designated time during grammar school teachers workdays which has long been unofficially used as prep time is now designated as prep time per the tentative agreement.  

In turn, such will protect this time from ending up impressed for other activities and so see teachers lose time currently used as prep time.

Additionally, an experiential and accreditation predicted pay increase was scored by teachers along with enhancements in longevity pay for those who put in serious time teaching local youth.

So far no particulars out of the Quincy Public Schools headquarters
A Quincy Quarry News exclusive file photo

Particulars were not available as to the monetary benefits so scored above and beyond the 3% annual salary increases over three years, however, the general consensus was that the various additional compensation increases handily meet the union’s secret goals and then some as opposed to their official asks re same during negotiations.

About the only area where teachers did only so-so was as regards improving parental leave policies and benefits.

Even so, while there are some variations on this and that, teachers did at least score parental leave benefits on a par with what other city union members enjoy per their contracts even if teachers did not score their goal of seeing local teachers score parental leave benefits improved towards what teachers enjoy in other communities where teachers are appreciated.

That and where how such benefits which other districts view as an ultimately a low-cost way to retain teachers and so mitigate the not inconsiderable costs of hiring new teachers given shortsighted and short changing counterproductive maternity leave policies such as Quincy’s long-standing policies.

In short, so much for Quincy’s peerless mayor and thus also Chair of School Committee long pimping claims of supporting family values.

On the other hand, Quincy teachers did score big wins on seeing changes to the city’s long ongoing maternity benefits contract language.

Picketing for what all are only fair to expect
A Quincy Quarry News file photo

Key to seeing the new parental leave framework negotiated was that the City of Quincy’s decades-old maternity policies were variously as well as often seriously discriminatory.

For example, male teachers were not eligible for parental leave, not even for married gay couples who opt to adopt even if the teacher half of such a couple is the primary caretaker.

Similarly, maternity leave tied to adoptions had long been limited to five days as well as – again – only available to women, and thus also a clearly discriminatory protocol.

Further, taking on the custody of a child or the demands of caring for a family member were similarly not accorded with leave per the old protocols.

Fortunately, this is an amusing outcome as regards these long ongoing family unfriendly policies.

The amusement began after a state-sourced mediator was finally brought in recently per the city request after nine months of impasse in the negotiations as well as after city had previously long brushed aside the teachers union proposing to bring in a mediator.

Specifically, the mediator told the city negotiating team that it had to expand its family-related leave benefits as the city’s long-ongoing old school discriminatory maternity leave policies could likely be successfully challenged in court.

The city’s contract negotiation team then opted to bring in its own union labor law legal counsel.  This person apparently then told the city’s negotiating team that mediator was correct and then the city’s negotiation team basically folded shortly thereafter and a new proposed agreement so reached shortly thereafter.

Further as well as ironically amusing as regards the city’s long ongoing discriminatory maternity leave policies is the fact that the Quincy Public Schools District’s current Superintendent is a lawyer who has never worked full-time as a teacher and was ostensibly hired given his legal expertise in spite of the fact that he has no progeny.

Additionally, one can only reasonably assume that the teachers’ union will again seek to improve family leave benefits towards what are the law for those in the private sector when negotiations commence in roughly18 months on the next teachers’ contract. 

That and again seek to score whatever little teachers did not secure in the pending ratification new contract as well as surely seek other new contract enhancements to their as well as local students’ benefits.

At the same time, there was also the only to be expected koched-up side story as regards the mayor taking care of of family.

“Taking care of family matters”
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Specifically, as regards the separate negotiations on the paraprofessional school employees’ new union contract. 

While not a regular participant in city employee union contract negotiations, Mayor Koch is on record on saying that he personally intended to see that teachers’ aides receive an nice pay pop from their previous meager compensation levels.

So what, apparently for the fact that his wife is a longtime school paraprofessional currently working at North Quincy High School.

As such, not only should Quincy’s peerless major not have said what he did, he should have also conversely recused himself as regards any involvement with or voting on the paraprofessionals’ contract.

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