QUINCY, Mass. -- The state told them to march back to class, but this morning Quincy teachers are marching back to the picket lines instead.
The question now is whether students will be back in school at all this year.
Survey: Teachers Paid Enough?NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that there will not be any classes in Quincy on Monday, and that means delays in taking final exams. It may also mean a longer school year.
"The teachers want to be back in the classroom. The kids are now going to have an extended school year, and it's just an unfortunate thing that they have to go through," parent Janice Sheehan said.
A picnic brought together teachers and their supporters over the weekend. The teachers are promising to disobey an order to return to work Monday after the state's Labor Relations Commission ruled on Friday that a strike is illegal. About 890 people have walked off the job.
The biggest issue is that teachers are being asked to pay more for health care. They would have to pay 20 percent rather than the current 10 percent. They're being offered a 13 percent salary increase over the next four years, but teachers said that amounts to a pay cut.
"The health care increase and the co-pay increase will wipe away any salary increase," one teacher said.
"It almost makes myself look other places, other schools that would take better care of a teacher," another teacher said.
The two sides met with a mediator Sunday but there was little if any movement on the issues.
"It's not a matter of taking a hard stand, it's a matter of everybody pitching in to strike a fair balance," Quincy Mayor William Phelan said.
The teachers will meet at 11 a.m. Monday. Theirs is the first strike they've held in more than 10 years.
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