Chicago Teachers Union plans rally amid contract talks
The Chicago Teachers Union's scheduled rally Tuesday outside the James R. Thompson Center is intended as a public display of power as bargaining teams continue to work on a new contract.
CTU fired up its members with a similar gathering in May 2012, deploying a show of force at the Auditorium Theatre to convey dissatisfaction with protracted contract talks. That demonstration was followed a couple of weeks later when union members voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
The scenario isn't likely play out that way this time around, union officials said.
CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said a strike authorization vote, if one is deemed necessary, won't be taken for months.
"We haven't made any real decisions about it, a lot depends on what happens and the board's willingness to be forthright," Sharkey said Monday. "Hopefully it won't come to all that, but if it does it's not likely to happen until the fall."
According to CTU, the union wants a one-year contract with a 3 percent raise, while the Chicago Board of Education is looking for a three-year deal with an 1 percent raise in the third year.
Chicago Public Schools officials have declined to comment on negotiations.
The union has deployed a new mantra: "CPS: Broke On Purpose," accusing the district of deliberately undermining its finances. The district says it is wrestling with a $1.1 billion deficit weighted with pension payments and wants to save millions of dollars by having teachers pay more into their pension fund.
The district owes a $634 million teacher pension payment at the end of the month, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has declined to say if the money is available to pay it.
CPS has already opted against offering teachers an additional year on their current contract, avoiding a provision in the deal that would have included a 3 percent pay hike, which a CPS spokesman said would cost $105 million.
CTU filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the district last month, accusing the board of bad-faith bargaining and refusing to engage in mediation toward a new contract.
The union is also asking for limits to class sizes, increases in teacher preparation time, a reduction of paperwork mandates and additional school counselors and nurses.
"We think they're broke on purpose, but it doesn't change the fact that there is some real Chicago Teachers Union plans rally amid contract talks - Chicago Tribune: