Will the CORE Machine Grind to a Halt or Continue to Shine into an Uncertain Future?
By Jim Vail
The old union machine lives on today in the form of a dynamic and innovative caucus called CORE who captured national attention when they took the Chicago Teachers Union to its first strike in 25 years.
They defeated the old UPC caucus that ran the union for most of the previous 50 years (full disclosure: I was a member of CORE when it won in 2010). While they benefited by the fact that the UPC was divided (the president fired her vice president who then formed his own caucus), CORE has been run by a young group of enterprising trade unionists, led by Karen Lewis, who was so popular she was ready to become the city's mayor after the 2012 strike.
While CORE has led an admirable fight against the dark privatizing forces of the ruling class - stopping the charter school growth, unionizing the charter school teachers and going on strikes for better pay and benefits - they have become what they defeated - a machine.
They have been a force in the political field. The CORE-led CTU has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in political candidates (one inside union source said up to $1 million was spent to elect Brandon Johnson to the Cook County Board with AFT & IFT money thrown in). They play a key role in the Democratic Party, having endorsed Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle for mayor.
They know how to hustle for votes, encourage their vendors, associates and employees to support their political activities and sign up new members.
But the Members First caucus who is challenging them have hit a chord with many frustrated teachers. They have attracted many disgruntled CTU members who feel the union's big picture ambitions for social justice and democratic party politics have come at a cost to the teachers in the trenches. Some teachers say they don't get their calls answered and the union cut back on field reps while continuing to dish out big bucks to the politicians.
MF President Therese Boyle says she is meeting a lot of teachers on the campaign trail who are responding to her message. She says teachers are worried about Reach evaluations, principal harassment, 32 kids in a kindergarten with no aid, and other bread and butter issues.
"They're not talking about big global issues," Boyle said. "They want the union to talk about union issues."
She says the union is not transparent. Delegates first discovered a budget deficit last year, and Members First is warning CTU members that the leadership will raise our dues by $100.
The union will take out a line of credit to cushion the payments to the Merchandise Mart where they still owe up to a $1 million for rent.
"It's spend, spend, spend," Boyle says. "I will make it all transparent. What is the reason to keep it all secret?"
But if that spending gets results, despite the lack of transparency, checks and balances and questionable expenses, does it matter?
Although Ald. Ed Burke was indicted for shaking down a Burger King operator in his ward to benefit his side tax law firm, he got re-elected. A Sun-Times article showed he has brought a lot of business to his ward, a lot of jobs. And Burke is tied to the CTU, because he is tied to Preckwinkle, who is tied to the CTU. It's the Chicago machine.
Blagojevich may have been corrupt, making dirty deals (which many argue is how politics works), but he did bring health care for all kids and free public transportation for senior citizens.
Today the so-called 'clean' politicans (is there such a word?) give us austerity - gutting our city service while dishing out billions to billionairs like Jeff Bezos.
But the question is - is there a better way? Can we be open, honest, more democratic and make less dirty deals? Ultimately, when deals are made, the people lose out, despite some gains. Construction union members benefits when the city doles out TIF tax dollars to build, but the rest of us pay for it with higher tax bills. And it certainly hurts the schools who depend on those precious tax dollars!
Churchill may have won the war, but he was later voted out of office.
Will CORE get re-elected or voted out? Is there enough disgust to remove this leadership? We'll see this weekend when our 25,000 plus members vote this Friday on May 17.
By Jim Vail
The old union machine lives on today in the form of a dynamic and innovative caucus called CORE who captured national attention when they took the Chicago Teachers Union to its first strike in 25 years.
They defeated the old UPC caucus that ran the union for most of the previous 50 years (full disclosure: I was a member of CORE when it won in 2010). While they benefited by the fact that the UPC was divided (the president fired her vice president who then formed his own caucus), CORE has been run by a young group of enterprising trade unionists, led by Karen Lewis, who was so popular she was ready to become the city's mayor after the 2012 strike.
While CORE has led an admirable fight against the dark privatizing forces of the ruling class - stopping the charter school growth, unionizing the charter school teachers and going on strikes for better pay and benefits - they have become what they defeated - a machine.
They have been a force in the political field. The CORE-led CTU has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in political candidates (one inside union source said up to $1 million was spent to elect Brandon Johnson to the Cook County Board with AFT & IFT money thrown in). They play a key role in the Democratic Party, having endorsed Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle for mayor.
They know how to hustle for votes, encourage their vendors, associates and employees to support their political activities and sign up new members.
But the Members First caucus who is challenging them have hit a chord with many frustrated teachers. They have attracted many disgruntled CTU members who feel the union's big picture ambitions for social justice and democratic party politics have come at a cost to the teachers in the trenches. Some teachers say they don't get their calls answered and the union cut back on field reps while continuing to dish out big bucks to the politicians.
MF President Therese Boyle says she is meeting a lot of teachers on the campaign trail who are responding to her message. She says teachers are worried about Reach evaluations, principal harassment, 32 kids in a kindergarten with no aid, and other bread and butter issues.
"They're not talking about big global issues," Boyle said. "They want the union to talk about union issues."
She says the union is not transparent. Delegates first discovered a budget deficit last year, and Members First is warning CTU members that the leadership will raise our dues by $100.
The union will take out a line of credit to cushion the payments to the Merchandise Mart where they still owe up to a $1 million for rent.
"It's spend, spend, spend," Boyle says. "I will make it all transparent. What is the reason to keep it all secret?"
But if that spending gets results, despite the lack of transparency, checks and balances and questionable expenses, does it matter?
Although Ald. Ed Burke was indicted for shaking down a Burger King operator in his ward to benefit his side tax law firm, he got re-elected. A Sun-Times article showed he has brought a lot of business to his ward, a lot of jobs. And Burke is tied to the CTU, because he is tied to Preckwinkle, who is tied to the CTU. It's the Chicago machine.
Blagojevich may have been corrupt, making dirty deals (which many argue is how politics works), but he did bring health care for all kids and free public transportation for senior citizens.
Today the so-called 'clean' politicans (is there such a word?) give us austerity - gutting our city service while dishing out billions to billionairs like Jeff Bezos.
But the question is - is there a better way? Can we be open, honest, more democratic and make less dirty deals? Ultimately, when deals are made, the people lose out, despite some gains. Construction union members benefits when the city doles out TIF tax dollars to build, but the rest of us pay for it with higher tax bills. And it certainly hurts the schools who depend on those precious tax dollars!
Churchill may have won the war, but he was later voted out of office.
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