Contract disagreement leads to delay in retroactive pay for Peabody teachers

PEABODY – Peabody teachers will have to wait a little longer before they see any sign of a new contract or retroactive pay for working more than a year under an expired agreement. But, just how long they’ll wait exactly, no one knows.”I really expected this to be all done by now,” said School Committee negotiations representative Dave McGeney. “I still remain hopeful.”Stalls with the contract have reached three weeks since teachers ratified it on Oct. 29. According to both parties, the School Committee has not yet signed the agreement, nor have they even had the chance to look it over. The reason why remains a difference of opinions.Peabody Federation of Teachers President Bruce Nelson claims that in the wee hours of the morning on Oct. 10, both sides shook hands and congratulated each other on a package that satisfied their needs. He said that on various dates following that agreement, legal counsel worked out the fine details, and then it was sent to union members for a vote.”Recent statements by Mr. McGeney seem to indicate that he feels that we weren’t finished,” said Nelson. “It’s absolutely unfathomable. How could we bring a package to the membership to vote if there was something yet to be resolved?”McGeney also said they reached an agreement, but the document had not been properly reviewed by their attorneys before it was sent for ratification.He said it’s understandable that teachers are upset because “they have a document that was ratified, and obviously feel these were the terms we agreed to.””There’s a difference of opinion,” said McGeney. “I don’t think that this is going to be an absolute show stopper, but it is requiring more discussion with our mediator.”Teachers held an impromptu demonstration outside of City Hall Tuesday afternoon, once again showing their discontent with the lack of a fair contract.”The teachers are angry,” said Nelson. “And I believe that Mr. McGeney and the school committee?are willfully misjudging the depth and the intensity of the anger of teachers. It’s like someone pulled the rug out from underneath them.””We are very frustrated and upset,” said Kim Catron, a 14-year teacher in Peabody schools. “It’s on the verge of really feeling a lack of respect for our profession?They can sign the police officers agreement the next day and ours continues on and on and on.”McGeney said he feels for the teachers and respects their right to protest, but personally, it doesn’t affect his approach to bargaining.”Speaking for myself, it has zero impact,” he said. “It has no impact on me, other than my feeling badly that the teachers are out there in the cold.”Nelson and Catron aren’t quite sure of where to go or what to do now, as this is the first time something of this nature has happened in Peabody that they can recall.”I would like Mr. McGeney and the School Committee to stand by the deal that they offered and we accepted and that we had a gentlemen’s handshake on,” said Nelson.For McGeney, the differences just mean more discussions until a resolution is reached. He said that both attorneys are trying to coordinate a phone conversation in the near future, which will most likely lead to another meeting date, although nothing has been scheduled as of yet.”I would love to see the teachers receive their retro checks in time for the holidays,” he said. “I’m sure it would be helpful in their households.”