AMHERST — Teachers, paraeducators and other members of the Amherst-Pelham Education Association are halting doing any unpaid tasks in or out of school, such as overseeing extracurricular activities for students and developing new courses, until face-to-face negotiations on a new contract resume.

The union announced on Friday that a vote of its members calls for curtailing any extra volunteer work outside their contract and sticking only to what they are obligated to under terms of the deal when classes resume on Feb. 27, following February break.

The “work to rule” is the latest tactic as the union demands the Amherst School Committee return to bargaining in person and without a mediator.

“The School Committee continues to refuse to meet in person which is the fastest way to settle this contract crisis,” said APEA President Lamikco Magee.

Members of the union in January walked out of the five Amherst schools and the elementary school in Pelham at the end of a work day to express their displeasure with where things stands, and at that time noted that working to rule would be the next step in escalation.

“We are proud of what we do and we remain committed to providing students with the highest quality education,” Magee said. “Unfortunately, we have been pushed into taking this step.”

“We will continue to carry out essential duties, but we will strictly follow our contractual obligations until we resolve the contract crisis.”

The APEA is also continuing to ask for people to sign a petition that demands an end to mediation and a return to the negotiating table.

Amherst Regional School Committee Chairman Ben Herrington responded to the announcement.

“While this is an unfortunate and disappointing turn of events, we remain committed to working toward reaching a fiscally sustainable agreement that provides our staff with fair and competitive compensation,” Herrington said. “At the end of the day, both sides certainly agree that the outcome needs to be centered around what is best for our students and our communities.”

The sides have been largely stuck on compensation-related items.

Amherst educators have proposed a 3.25% cost-of-living increase for year one for teachers and clerical staff with 4% and 5% in the following years. For paraeducators, who are the lowest-paid employees, increases are sought that would essentially provide a living wage. The union cites the unprecedented inflation negligible contractual increases in recent years that have failed to keep up with the cost of living.

The School Committee, in turn, has offered 2.5% cost-of-living increase for years one and two, and 2% for fiscal year 2025. In addition, it offered to eliminate the lowest step for paraeducators which with the 2.5% cost of living adjustment would bring their starting wage to $18.25 this year. The projected cost is $846,000 in this year’s budget, only $34,000 more than was in the budget, and roughly the same in next year’s budget.

But that falls well short of the 6% in each year for paraeducators from APEA, which is also requesting additional lanes with wage increases for paraeducators with education above high school and a restructuring of lanes with additional wage increases for clerical staff, as well as additions of/or increases for some stipends and differentials.

The projected cost of the APEA proposals is $1.9 million this year, or $1 million more than in the budget, $1.4 million in next year’s budget, based on information from Allison McDonald, the Amherst School Committee chairwoman who serves on the negotiating team.

Another challenge is that the School Committee’s proposal adds two days to the working year for the union’s Unit A, which reduces the full value of the COLA by 1% each year, and also proposes to eliminate a “reduction in force” protection so that educator jobs or hours can be cut without advance notice.

Amherst educators say they want to come to an agreement that is fair for the students, the community and its members.

“Our proposals on wages and working conditions are what is needed to attract and retain educators in this district,” Magee said. “The best thing we can do to ensure the quality of our schools is to settle this contract crisis. The school committee's unwillingness to meet face to face and come to an agreement with educators is currently the biggest threat facing our district. The school committee's lack of urgency to reach a fair agreement needs to end. They need to sit down with us in person and settle a fair contract.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>