EDITORIAL

Work to rule

Posted 9/3/15

“Work to rule.”

Those words have a chilling effect on those who lived the many years in the late 1980s and early ’90s when the Warwick School Committee and Warwick Teachers Union were …

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EDITORIAL

Work to rule

Posted

“Work to rule.”

Those words have a chilling effect on those who lived the many years in the late 1980s and early ’90s when the Warwick School Committee and Warwick Teachers Union were without a contract.

It’s hard to forget how divisive the situation became. Discord extended beyond school corridors and seeped into almost every aspect of the community. Friendships were broken. Teachers and parents of students deliberately avoided one another under the best of circumstances – or worse, made derogatory comments as they crossed paths in supermarket aisles. There was reason for students and parents to be mad. Since it was not spelled out in their contracts, teachers didn’t attend open houses or participate in events extending beyond the school day and terms of their agreement. Among the most distressing actions were teacher refusals to write college recommendations for students they had known for years. That wasn’t easy for teachers either. For teachers to have done otherwise would have broken their solidarity and weakened efforts to broker an agreement.

That’s why we were distressed to learn Tuesday that teachers planned to play the “work to rule” card again with the commencement of school yesterday. We don’t need hostility between the committee and the union if, as a community, we are to address such issues as school consolidation and the selection of a new superintendent.

This is not to suggest the sides are polarized, or that civil and respectful discourse has broken down. That hasn’t happened. At this point, the parties are headed for mediation. Hopefully, mediator Vincent Ragosta, the same man who conducted a review of administrative procedures in the disciplining of a Gorton teacher, can “kickstart” the talks.

Reaching an agreement doesn’t promise to be easy, for merely the matter of consolidation, not to mention other administrative concerns, means a reduction in teacher ranks.

For the moment, however, we would remind both parties that “work to rule” could lead to a long stalemate that renders more damage than gains for both sides. They’re playing with fire.

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