WOBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - The Woburn Teachers Association and Mayor Scott Galvin are nearing an agreement to end a strike that had kids out of the classroom five days last week.
This comes after Galvin has said, deal or no deal, he wants teachers back in the classroom on Monday either way after five days of canceled classes for Woburn students.
Though they haven’t reached an agreement, parties said they’ve made progress toward a deal. The pay issue has been agreed upon, both sides say, and now the latest issue is how to pay for the approximately $250,000 in expenses related to the strike.
Strikes are illegal among public employees in Massachusetts. A superior court judge ruled on Wednesday that the Woburn Teachers Association would have to pay daily fines beginning at $40,000. The fine amount will increase by $5,000 per-day for each day that teachers remain on strike.
Woburn city officials said the average teacher salary in Woburn schools is about $85,000. Teacher and paraprofessional pay have been among topics of debate to date in contract negotiations, with teachers pushing for higher compensation.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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