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North Andover teaching-assistant union lays out pay, leave and safety proposals in public bargaining session
Summary
At a public bargaining session with the North Andover School Committee subcommittee, the union representing teaching assistants presented a broad package of proposals — including increasing parental leave to 16 weeks, new stipends for toileting and specialized programs, enhanced health-and-safety reporting, a $50,000 tuition fund and a request for a first wage offer — and the parties signed ground rules and scheduled follow-up meetings.
The North Andover Professional Support Association presented a wide-ranging set of contract proposals at a public bargaining session with a School Committee subcommittee, calling for larger parental leave, new stipends and stronger health-and-safety reporting as the two sides prepared to begin detailed negotiations.
"Both parties are here this afternoon to begin a process that is vital to the health of North Andover public schools," school committee member Kelly Cormier said in the session's opening remarks, stressing civility and public access to the talks.
Union field representative Kevin Tierney, who led the union presentation, framed the proposals with a municipal finance overview and said the union’s package was grounded in available local and state revenues. "We have excess levy capacity, big healthy free cash reserves" and a strong bond rating, he said, arguing that fiscal context supports at least some of the union's requests.
The union's headline proposals included:
- Parental leave: increase total parental leave from 12 to 16 consecutive work weeks for birth, adoptive and foster parents; the union proposed that the first 12 weeks be employer-covered (not deducted from sick leave),…
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