CTU President Stacy Davis Gates states, that the Chicago Teachers Union is requesting an annual salary rise of at least 9% and has not ruled out going on strike, even with one of their own in the mayor’s office.
“We are a labor union.” Davis Gates told the Sun-Times that the Chicago Teachers Union is not a political party, despite attempts to characterize it in various ways.
“To reach a strike, we must first reach an impasse. … [But] we are a labor union that recognizes the potential of solidarity and work stoppage.”
Under Rahm Emanuel, who eliminated 50 schools, and Lori Lightfoot, who betrayed her vow to support an elected school board, it was simple to rally CTU supporters. Both mayors faced teacher strikes.
However, Mayor Brandon Johnson, a middle school teacher turned paid organizer for the CTU, owes his victory to millions of dollars in campaign contributions and hundreds of foot soldiers given by the union, its state and national federations, and the CTU-affiliated United Working Families.
Throughout the campaign, Johnson was questioned about how he would protect taxpayers’ financial interests against his former union. His choice to grant teachers and school administrators 13 weeks of paid parental leave without asking for anything in return further exacerbated such assumptions.
Johnson’s presence alters the dynamic at the bargaining table.
Nonetheless, the teachers union is not backing down in its contract demands, even as Johnson battles to support a migrant crisis that has stretched municipal and Chicago Public Schools resources as federal stimulus monies dry up.
Though Davis Gates stated twice to the Sun-Times that the rise in demand would be the lesser of 9% or the Consumer Price Index, a spokeswoman verified on Friday that the union’s written demand is for the bigger of the two amounts.
“We are experiencing an extraordinary amount of inflation,” she went on to say. Salaries and perks should also be “commensurate to the level of education, the amount of time, and the experience that our members bring into school communities,” she said, but she wouldn’t indicate how long a contract she’d want.
“Our wages have not kept up with the prices at McDonald’s or Wendy’s. We strive to keep teachers in Chicago. “If you want teachers in Chicago… they must be able to afford it.”
Davis Gates described the negotiations as a “awakening moment for the women who dominate this profession.”” The wage dispute would “rest heavily” on teacher retention and the “lowest-wage” paraprofessionals in CPS, who demand a raise “that lifts them out of almost poverty wages,” she stated.
“We have a teacher shortage. Many young people are hesitant to become teachers because they believe it will require them to compete for resources, offer teaching, and cope with the pressures of the job. So those young folks have decided to do something else.”
This week, Davis Gates launched a campaign for a new contract that goes well beyond the compensation, health care, and working conditions demands that dominate most negotiations. She wants a “baseline” of sports, music, art, world language, technology, after-school, and restorative justice programs in all CPS schools so that educational quality does not vary “from one ZIP code to another.”
The only remaining concern is how to pay for it.
“We are going to go beyond simply holding the mayor responsible. We’re going to make the city want something they already deserve. “We’ll be knocking on doors and talking to families whose children attend Chicago Public Schools,” Davis Gates said.
“We have a progressive governor in Illinois with his sights set on higher office. “It would be a great story to tell that he is fully funding the Chicago Public Schools, after a lifetime of underfunding.”