School Committee v. Westerly Teachers Ass'n

*97Kelleher, J.

Last September when the public school bells rang to announce the beginning of a new school year, there was one group whose response was something less than unanimous. It was the schoolteachers. In several communities they appeared at the schoolhouse doors not to teach but to picket. A phrase was heard which until recently was usually uttered by those engaged in the private sector of employment. It was “no contract, no work.” The town of Westerly was one such community. On September 1, 1971, the school committee and the Westerly Teachers Association had entered into a collective…