CTU House of Delegates Meeting May 1st
By Jim Vail
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members met for the May 1st workers day House of Delegates meeting to discuss the budget and hear a debate between the two caucuses running in the next union election May 17.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) said they had an unexpected health cost savings of nearly $10 million, and that should result in holding the line on health care costs for the members. CPS wanted to slightly raise the PPO insurance rates.
CTU interim financial director Kathy Catalano outlined the budget that the delegates will vote on in the June meeting. She said the union will take out a line of credit in order to pay for the Merchandise Mart lease that runs til 2022 and costs $1 million. The line of credit will soften the lump sum via monthly payments, but accrue interest payments like any loan over a certain time period.
Sharkey said the union has absorbed the costs for union members after its parent union American Federation of Teachers (AFT) raised its rates that the CTU must pay. The Members First (MF) caucus running in the election said they think the union will raise member dues by $100.
Catalano said half of the money in the roughly $29 million union budget goes to its parent union the AFT.
"We looked at everything with a fine tooth comb," Catalano said.
She said in 2018 there were 60 full time union staff, and after staff cuts in 2019 there are 53.5 people full time.
"We're trying to show a lot of transparency," she said, in response to the opposition caucus and others saying the union is not very transparent when it comes to expenses.
The CTU maintains that there will be considerable savings once it pays off the $1.9 million in rent due at the Merchandise Mart, which it was not able to sublease. They blamed the previous union leadership (UPC) for being stuck with a horrible lease at the Mart.
"There are just two and a half more years and once we're done we will have considerable savings that will affect cash flow," Catalano said at the meeting.
A pleasant surprise was the unexpected increased number of union members that the CTU expected to decrease.
One delegate noted that the union must pay double rent, including paying rent to the Mart and to the CTU Foundation for the headquarters on Carroll. The leadership said we're basically paying ourselves (and herein lies the big question - what is the foundation budget that delegates have no access to. It is controlled by the four officers).
The CTU says it is subsidizing the increased AFT costs by about $200 per member.
"We're trying to keep costs down," Sharkey said.
CTU lawyer Robert Bloch told the delegates that the new Mayor Lori Lightfoot wanted more time to negotiate, but CPS must follow the time line of negotiations that were agreed to.
Sharkey said to be ready to strike in the fall, however, he said nothing about teachers saving their money if the strike happens in September.
"We should talk about being ready in the fall (to strike)," Sharkey said. "But there are those who say we have a new mayor and we shouldn't be hard on her."
These certainly are not fighting words to strike against Lightfoot.
How much better will Lightfoot be than her predecessor Rahm Emanuel? She's called the 'progressive' and talks about investing in the neglected neighborhoods and supports a ban on new charter schools. But her education transition team looks hell bent on continuing the education reform march the democrats are wedded to, to close schools and privatize further based on a Lightfoot survey that asks people to rate their neighborhood school, knowing full well that most people have no connection to their public school.
Oriole Park delegate Erica Wozniak, who ran for alderwoman in Uptown, said she has a petition that calls for more services for children outside the classroom. She noted there is just one social worker for every 1,053 children. Another delegate from Ogden said he sent a letter to his administration that they must first go through the elected PPLC before presenting a budget to the local school council. Ogden has been through about seven principals in the last eight years. The latest is suing the Chicago Board of Education (CBOE) because he says his rights were violated.
There will be a rally for a fair contract Wednesday, May 22 at 5pm at the Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph. The union flyer states every school community deserves fair pay and benefits, adequate staffing, smaller class sizes and justice for students and families.
The delegates passed a resolution to Lift the Ban (affordable housing), which resolves "the CTU will formerly join the Lift the Ban Coalition and send one officer or staffer and member to monthly coalition meetings, the CTU will develop educational materials for delegates to share facts about Lift the Ban campaign, links to our contract campaign, student and teacher housing issues, student enrollment and well-being for students and members, and CTU delegates will share vital information, resolution, FAQ and Powerpoint with their schools at the next union meeting to spread knowledge and awareness around the issue."
The delegates then heard an articulate and passionate debate between CORE President and Vice President candidates Jesse Sharkey and Stacy Davis Gates and Members First Therese Boyle and Victor Ochoa.
Some say it comes down to either supporting an active union fighting for social justice and challenging the political environment controlled by strong money interests that want to privatize education, or an opposition group that wants the union to focus on its nuts and bolts of the needs of teachers and be much more transparent about the money issues that have concerned many.
Second City Teachers hopes to present our readers with a recap of the vigorous debate in our upcoming posts.
By Jim Vail
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| CTU Pres. Jesse Sharkey & VP Stacy Gates are being challenged May 17. |
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members met for the May 1st workers day House of Delegates meeting to discuss the budget and hear a debate between the two caucuses running in the next union election May 17.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) said they had an unexpected health cost savings of nearly $10 million, and that should result in holding the line on health care costs for the members. CPS wanted to slightly raise the PPO insurance rates.
CTU interim financial director Kathy Catalano outlined the budget that the delegates will vote on in the June meeting. She said the union will take out a line of credit in order to pay for the Merchandise Mart lease that runs til 2022 and costs $1 million. The line of credit will soften the lump sum via monthly payments, but accrue interest payments like any loan over a certain time period.
Sharkey said the union has absorbed the costs for union members after its parent union American Federation of Teachers (AFT) raised its rates that the CTU must pay. The Members First (MF) caucus running in the election said they think the union will raise member dues by $100.
Catalano said half of the money in the roughly $29 million union budget goes to its parent union the AFT.
"We looked at everything with a fine tooth comb," Catalano said.
She said in 2018 there were 60 full time union staff, and after staff cuts in 2019 there are 53.5 people full time.
"We're trying to show a lot of transparency," she said, in response to the opposition caucus and others saying the union is not very transparent when it comes to expenses.
The CTU maintains that there will be considerable savings once it pays off the $1.9 million in rent due at the Merchandise Mart, which it was not able to sublease. They blamed the previous union leadership (UPC) for being stuck with a horrible lease at the Mart.
"There are just two and a half more years and once we're done we will have considerable savings that will affect cash flow," Catalano said at the meeting.
A pleasant surprise was the unexpected increased number of union members that the CTU expected to decrease.
One delegate noted that the union must pay double rent, including paying rent to the Mart and to the CTU Foundation for the headquarters on Carroll. The leadership said we're basically paying ourselves (and herein lies the big question - what is the foundation budget that delegates have no access to. It is controlled by the four officers).
The CTU says it is subsidizing the increased AFT costs by about $200 per member.
"We're trying to keep costs down," Sharkey said.
CTU lawyer Robert Bloch told the delegates that the new Mayor Lori Lightfoot wanted more time to negotiate, but CPS must follow the time line of negotiations that were agreed to.
Sharkey said to be ready to strike in the fall, however, he said nothing about teachers saving their money if the strike happens in September.
"We should talk about being ready in the fall (to strike)," Sharkey said. "But there are those who say we have a new mayor and we shouldn't be hard on her."
These certainly are not fighting words to strike against Lightfoot.
How much better will Lightfoot be than her predecessor Rahm Emanuel? She's called the 'progressive' and talks about investing in the neglected neighborhoods and supports a ban on new charter schools. But her education transition team looks hell bent on continuing the education reform march the democrats are wedded to, to close schools and privatize further based on a Lightfoot survey that asks people to rate their neighborhood school, knowing full well that most people have no connection to their public school.
Oriole Park delegate Erica Wozniak, who ran for alderwoman in Uptown, said she has a petition that calls for more services for children outside the classroom. She noted there is just one social worker for every 1,053 children. Another delegate from Ogden said he sent a letter to his administration that they must first go through the elected PPLC before presenting a budget to the local school council. Ogden has been through about seven principals in the last eight years. The latest is suing the Chicago Board of Education (CBOE) because he says his rights were violated.
There will be a rally for a fair contract Wednesday, May 22 at 5pm at the Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph. The union flyer states every school community deserves fair pay and benefits, adequate staffing, smaller class sizes and justice for students and families.
The delegates passed a resolution to Lift the Ban (affordable housing), which resolves "the CTU will formerly join the Lift the Ban Coalition and send one officer or staffer and member to monthly coalition meetings, the CTU will develop educational materials for delegates to share facts about Lift the Ban campaign, links to our contract campaign, student and teacher housing issues, student enrollment and well-being for students and members, and CTU delegates will share vital information, resolution, FAQ and Powerpoint with their schools at the next union meeting to spread knowledge and awareness around the issue."
The delegates then heard an articulate and passionate debate between CORE President and Vice President candidates Jesse Sharkey and Stacy Davis Gates and Members First Therese Boyle and Victor Ochoa.
Some say it comes down to either supporting an active union fighting for social justice and challenging the political environment controlled by strong money interests that want to privatize education, or an opposition group that wants the union to focus on its nuts and bolts of the needs of teachers and be much more transparent about the money issues that have concerned many.
Second City Teachers hopes to present our readers with a recap of the vigorous debate in our upcoming posts.
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