Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates Meeting Sept., 2019
By Jim Vail
The Chicago Teachers Union delegates met to authorize a unanimous strike authorization vote at the House of Delegates meeting last Wed, Sept. 4.
The media reported on the action that will lead to a strike vote in the schools Sept. 24, 25 and 26. CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the strike authorization vote will give the union leverage to bargain for a good contract.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is no different than Rahm Emanuel when it comes to playing hardball with the union. She is now demanding that the teachers have three principal directed preparation periods so they have less time to finish all the work that needs to be done, including grading papers, filling out forms, organizing and preparing for lessons, attending IEP meetings, etc. She is also saying trust me, we will hire more social workers and nurses and teachers, rather than be serious and put it in the contract that would hold her administration accountable.
Lightfoot is a politician who was elected with corporate money to enact the wishes of our business elite who want to continue to take away from the workers. But unlike her hardline predecessor Rahm Emanuel - who openly went to war against the union after working for President Barack Obama - Lightfoot said many progressive things during her campaign to earn a lot of votes from teachers and others, such as investing in the neighborhood schools, no need for charter schools, stop privatization, etc.
This news blog will say it again and say it loud - there is no real difference between our two party system when it comes to screwing over the working people. The democrats and republicans are both funded by rich people and corporations and do little to nothing to help the people here!
In the Q&A period in the beginning of the meeting, one delegate said that their newly hired social worker complained that she was getting bombarded by emails (sound familiar?) because she is a mentor to three teachers, why not just one? Typical CPS tactic, give in to the union demands to hire more social workers, then make them pay for it!
Another teacher suggested, and Sharkey agreed, that CPS should change the school year so that the schools finish two weeks earlier like in the suburbs, and begin one week earlier. Delegates voiced approval in the room. The delegate from Smyth Elementary School said they finally got rid of their abusive principal who cheated on attendance, did not work with LSC, did not make up missed preps, which forced many teachers to leave. Sharkey said, ¨If you take a swing at the king´s head and miss, he´ll chop off your head.¨ In other words, you better be careful when you challenge the boss, because he can easily fire you or make your job hell!
Another delegate complained that they had 34 students in their kindergarten but nobody from the union came out to help with the class size grievance. That is one of the key demands in the new contract - capping class size!
During the moment of silence for teachers who passed away, it was announced a 29-year-old teacher at Whitney Young High School died from a brain aneurysm.
The CTU announced that they completed their annual audit - usually the report is given in June, and that the union was able to rescind all layoffs after trimming $1.4 million from the budget. The CTU also said despite the Janus decision that forces the union to sign up its members to pay dues, rather than automatically, only 23 members, of about 25,000, refused to sign a union card (one happened to be in my school last year, but she left!).
¨Our maximum strength is the strike,¨ said CTU financial secretary officer Maria Moreno.
CTU VP Stacy Gates pumped up the delegates to vote in favor of the strike authorization vote.
¨After the strike authorization vote we shift the power at the negotiating table,¨ she said.
President Sharkey also pumped up the delegates to vote yes to the strike. He noticed that Lightfoot bargaining in the public is a new tactic from the city which was used to closed-door sessions. Of course, the CTU changed that once the big bargaining team was introduced.
¨We electrified the country with our strike in 2012," Sharkey said in a strong voice. ¨We need a contract guarantee on class size. We need to hold the mayor to her promise.¨
¨The mayor texted me and said she wanted to talk,¨ he added. ¨I´m gonna tell her she´s got to get serious or there´s gonna be a strike.¨
The officers made it clear that any gains for special ed teachers or class size, is a victory for all the teachers. A loud cheer that signified CTU unity followed.
The spat over whether or not it was right for the CTU to support a delegation to Venezuela was lightly addressed by Sharkey. The CTU passed a resolution condemning US interference in Venezuela, but teachers on Facebook were upset that the CTU members who went to visit Venezuela showed support for President Maduro.
Sharkey said teachers should be careful about getting into fights over social media because the corporate media like the Chicago Tribune and Wall Street Journal - who hate unions, working class people, socialism and any other form of people solidarity - will use our spats to criticize the union.
¨By the way I think Maduro is a despot,¨ Sharkey said, with a slight smirk. ¨Keep using social media, but don´t do the bosses work. The Tribune is not our friend and they are now firing their education reporters.¨
By Jim Vail
The Chicago Teachers Union delegates met to authorize a unanimous strike authorization vote at the House of Delegates meeting last Wed, Sept. 4.
The media reported on the action that will lead to a strike vote in the schools Sept. 24, 25 and 26. CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the strike authorization vote will give the union leverage to bargain for a good contract.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is no different than Rahm Emanuel when it comes to playing hardball with the union. She is now demanding that the teachers have three principal directed preparation periods so they have less time to finish all the work that needs to be done, including grading papers, filling out forms, organizing and preparing for lessons, attending IEP meetings, etc. She is also saying trust me, we will hire more social workers and nurses and teachers, rather than be serious and put it in the contract that would hold her administration accountable.
Lightfoot is a politician who was elected with corporate money to enact the wishes of our business elite who want to continue to take away from the workers. But unlike her hardline predecessor Rahm Emanuel - who openly went to war against the union after working for President Barack Obama - Lightfoot said many progressive things during her campaign to earn a lot of votes from teachers and others, such as investing in the neighborhood schools, no need for charter schools, stop privatization, etc.
This news blog will say it again and say it loud - there is no real difference between our two party system when it comes to screwing over the working people. The democrats and republicans are both funded by rich people and corporations and do little to nothing to help the people here!
In the Q&A period in the beginning of the meeting, one delegate said that their newly hired social worker complained that she was getting bombarded by emails (sound familiar?) because she is a mentor to three teachers, why not just one? Typical CPS tactic, give in to the union demands to hire more social workers, then make them pay for it!
Another teacher suggested, and Sharkey agreed, that CPS should change the school year so that the schools finish two weeks earlier like in the suburbs, and begin one week earlier. Delegates voiced approval in the room. The delegate from Smyth Elementary School said they finally got rid of their abusive principal who cheated on attendance, did not work with LSC, did not make up missed preps, which forced many teachers to leave. Sharkey said, ¨If you take a swing at the king´s head and miss, he´ll chop off your head.¨ In other words, you better be careful when you challenge the boss, because he can easily fire you or make your job hell!
Another delegate complained that they had 34 students in their kindergarten but nobody from the union came out to help with the class size grievance. That is one of the key demands in the new contract - capping class size!
During the moment of silence for teachers who passed away, it was announced a 29-year-old teacher at Whitney Young High School died from a brain aneurysm.
The CTU announced that they completed their annual audit - usually the report is given in June, and that the union was able to rescind all layoffs after trimming $1.4 million from the budget. The CTU also said despite the Janus decision that forces the union to sign up its members to pay dues, rather than automatically, only 23 members, of about 25,000, refused to sign a union card (one happened to be in my school last year, but she left!).
¨Our maximum strength is the strike,¨ said CTU financial secretary officer Maria Moreno.
CTU VP Stacy Gates pumped up the delegates to vote in favor of the strike authorization vote.
¨After the strike authorization vote we shift the power at the negotiating table,¨ she said.
President Sharkey also pumped up the delegates to vote yes to the strike. He noticed that Lightfoot bargaining in the public is a new tactic from the city which was used to closed-door sessions. Of course, the CTU changed that once the big bargaining team was introduced.
¨We electrified the country with our strike in 2012," Sharkey said in a strong voice. ¨We need a contract guarantee on class size. We need to hold the mayor to her promise.¨
¨The mayor texted me and said she wanted to talk,¨ he added. ¨I´m gonna tell her she´s got to get serious or there´s gonna be a strike.¨
The officers made it clear that any gains for special ed teachers or class size, is a victory for all the teachers. A loud cheer that signified CTU unity followed.
The spat over whether or not it was right for the CTU to support a delegation to Venezuela was lightly addressed by Sharkey. The CTU passed a resolution condemning US interference in Venezuela, but teachers on Facebook were upset that the CTU members who went to visit Venezuela showed support for President Maduro.
Sharkey said teachers should be careful about getting into fights over social media because the corporate media like the Chicago Tribune and Wall Street Journal - who hate unions, working class people, socialism and any other form of people solidarity - will use our spats to criticize the union.
¨By the way I think Maduro is a despot,¨ Sharkey said, with a slight smirk. ¨Keep using social media, but don´t do the bosses work. The Tribune is not our friend and they are now firing their education reporters.¨
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