Tired of their anti-labor excuses in Mass.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--School Committee meetings here do not normally attract much attention, but a meeting on June 23 at John F. Kennedy Middle School was different--and signaled that the attack on the union rights of public-sector workers is spurring a response.

Despite a light rain, well over 100 people, bearing signs and banners in support of the Northampton Association of School Employees (NASE), were on the picket line three-quarters of an hour before the meeting's scheduled start, and the numbers increased steadily as the minutes passed. NASE members were joined by members of other labor unions, as well as by social justice and community activists, in demanding that the School Committee resign for its failure to engage in good-faith contract negotiations.

The six chapters of NASE represent the city's teachers and support and professional staff. In October 2010, NASE initiated efforts to begin negotiations on a contract set to expire on June 30.

The School Committee stonewalled, placing a higher priority on hiring a new superintendent than addressing the conditions of the workers who educate the city's children. Little more than a week before the June 23 meeting, the Committee finally replied, notifying NASE that due to "fiscal exigency," it would not pay for "step" increases mandated by the contract. With a few strokes at a keyboard, the Committee effectively canceled negotiations.

NASE responded with a resolution of no confidence in the School Committee and a demand for the resignation of those of its members who refuse to engage in good-faith bargaining. A crisis-response team formed to organize a rally at the next School Committee meeting and decided to hold a picket line before the meeting and then pack the meeting to dominate the period for public comments.

The picket line before the School Committee meeting was a lively one, with chants full of fighting spirit, including, "The people, united, will never be defeated" and "Workers' rights under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!" In the momentary lulls between chants, people discussed what was at stake in the struggle.

RALLY PARTICIPANTS reject the Committee's claim that it could not negotiate with its workers because of "fiscal exigency."

Pennie Marcus, a member of the Massachusetts Community College Council chapter at nearby Holyoke Community College, said that she had come out to express solidarity because "public-sector workers are under attack from Madison to Northampton. Fighting back is the only choice we have."

Service Employees International Union Local 615 organizer Jesse Martin and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 organizer Jeff Jones emphasized the need for solidarity between public- and private-sector workers. "It's the same kind of fight in the private sector as in the public sector, where they're learning from the union-busting tactics of the private-sector bosses," said Martin. He added, "The most positive thing to come out of this attack is a renewed sense of the need for rank-and-file mobilization among union workers."

Jones described the School Committee's attack on NASE as "the latest chapter in attacks on the working class that started under Reagan." He underscored the depth of the attack on the working class by noting, "I'm also here as a parent of a third-grader in the Northampton schools. An attack on teachers means larger class sizes for my child. Finally, I'm here because this is an attack on democracy. Collective bargaining is an essential part of democracy."

Student activists linked NASE's struggle to force the School Committee to bargain in good faith to their own struggles with institutions that do not prioritize education as a human right. As Western Massachusetts Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) organizer Patrick Burke said in an interview, "It's clear the attack on the public sector is not sparing anyone. This is liberal Northampton in liberal Massachusetts. We see the same process at work in higher education, the same disrespect for teachers and students. We need to build a fighting movement of teachers, staff, and students. That's SLAP's aim for higher education."

Alex Cachinero-Gorman, a recent graduate of Hampshire College and a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter there that secured Hampshire's divestment from corporations that profit from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine two years ago, observed that many college and university students were participating in the picket line and would attend the School Committee meeting.

Noting that he is a dual citizen of Spain and the United States and will shortly be visiting family and friends in Spain, Cachinero-Gorman said, "The struggles are about the future in both Spain and the United States."

"Of course," he continued, "there are many differences, and the crisis is much deeper in Spain. But in both Spain and the U.S., we see the politics of austerity and a general sense of disenfranchisement. The struggles we see show the contradiction that youth are facing today. As a result of the social struggles of the past, many of us are well-educated, but we are burdened with debt and high levels of unemployment. It is a mistake to dismiss the 'youth movement.' We are becoming politicized as a result of this contradiction."

PROTESTERS BEGAN to file into the building a few minutes after seven. By this time, our number was approaching 220, and none of us wanted to be late for the meeting.

What appeared to be a sizeable art classroom had been arranged for the meeting. As more and more people packed into the room, it began to rock with the politics of working-class solidarity. Chants rang out, including, "What's disgusting? Union busting!" and "Whose schools? Our schools!"

Protesters sang several rousing choruses of "Solidarity Forever." By that point, the crowd may have numbered as many as 250 people, and it was standing room only. Many more people stood in the hall, unable to squeeze into the room.

About 15 minutes after the scheduled start of the meeting, a new chant started. "Show your face, negotiate!" Finally, the Committee filed into the room to chants of "Shame on you!"

Mayor Claire Higgins opened the public comment section of the agenda with a pointed admonition to the speakers and the audience to be "respectful." No doubt, the mayor was disappointed. Criticism of the priorities of the School Committee and of city government was sharp and focused.

NASE teachers schooled the Committee on what they had learned in their years of negotiations. "Despite our concessions in the past," said President Sharon Carlson, "we have been shut out."

NASE member Ernie Brill spoke with the eloquence of a teacher of English and creative writing. He described the Committee's tactics as without precedent in his 18 years in the union and asked, "If we give in now, what will you take back next time?" He also deftly deflated the city's claim of fiscal exigency, noting it had hired nine new police officers at a cost that exceeded the city's rainy day fund. "So where is the fiscal exigency?"

Parents also questioned the Committee's tactics and the results they have produced. The mother of a JFK student noted that last year, she had joined an organization that supported the Committee's campaign for a property tax increase. NASE members also joined the campaign, agreeing to a three-day unpaid furlough. "After hearing last week of the School Committee's decision to cancel negotiations, I feel foolish," she said. "Your tactic seems to be using fear of layoffs to divide us. The city's rainy day fund is balanced on the backs of teachers and school employees."

A few parents noted that the School Committee had demanded concessions from NASE in order to maintain the quality of educational services. Yet as parent after parent observed, arts and music are being cut, and class sizes are increasing, especially for kindergarten and first-grade students.

Rose Bookbinder, UAW Region 9A organizer, admonished the Committee: "As an organizer I'm shocked to see this School Committee following corporate union-busting tactics. Shame on you!"

The last speaker was Charles Peterson, a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts and an activist with the International Socialist Organization, who stated, "It's clear that the School Committee went to the [Scott] Walker school of negotiations." His last line brought down the house. "Mayor, if there's really a fiscal emergency, why don't you refuse your salary?"

The School Committee was unmoved by the overwhelming public display of opposition, announcing that it had "never...been approached by the union for negotiations," and that it had "repeatedly attempted to engage in negotiations with the union."

But as the Hampshire Gazette wrote on June 22, NASE had contacted the School Committee at least twice in attempts to open negotiations, once in October 2010 and then after the appointment of an interim superintendent.

The Committee's refusal to pay the step increases mandated by the existing contract, which legally continues to be in force, the paper wrote, violates "the bedrock in the way the system compensates employees." Noting that NASE charges the School Committee with failure to negotiate in good faith, a requirement of Massachusetts law, the editorial notes, "It is hard to conclude otherwise."

NASE Secretary Ben Taglieri explained in a letter to the Gazette that the School Committee's violation of NASE's collective bargaining rights, which parallels "the events in Wisconsin" was what had motivated the union to vote no confidence in the Committee and call for its union-busting members to resign.

Noting the union's history of making concessions to save the city money, Taglieri concluded, "If the lack of an offer for a raise would prompt us to call for resignations we would have done that long ago and often. This call is in defense of our rights."

Union activists left the meeting debating the lessons of the meeting and the next steps to take in the struggle for contract justice in the Northampton schools.

Jillian Sullivan, a rank-and-file NASE activist and member of its crisis-response team, drew some early lessons. She said she was energized for the struggles to come, observing she had learned that "committed organizers can mobilize a community in support of workers' rights." She described the rally as "exactly what we needed. Creating a common rallying point brought people together and made us stronger."

That's the kind of fighting spirit working people will need to force an end to the assaults on our dignity and our standard of living.