Tribune Endorses CTU Member who CTU Rejected
By Jim Vail
Froy Jimenez thought he did everything he was supposed to do to get the Chicago Teachers Union endorsement to run for state senator.
He led the CTU Political Action Committee and he served as a strike captain during the 2019 Chicago teachers strike. If there was a union battle, he was ready to fight the fight.
But the CTU decided to not endorse him for the state senate and instead stay neutral in his race against Democrat Tony Munoz.
CORE´s first president Karen Lewis encouraged her fellow CTU members to run for political office to save public education.
But this encouragement ran against the hard cold reality of backing winners to fight in Springfield.
Several CTU members who have run for office did not get their union´s endorsement. The PAC committee did not endorse Lindblom High School teacher and delegate Ed Hershey when he ran for alderman on the Southwest Side, and they did not endorse music teacher and delegate Angie Maloney when she ran for alderman on the North Side.
Today CTU President Jesse Sharkey and Vice President Stacy Gates do not tell their members to run for political office. They do tell them to vote.
The teachers union political strategy appears to be winning. They have helped elect several CTU members, including Sue Garza as alderwoman on the Southeast Side, Aaron Ortiz as state representative and union organizer Brandon Johnson as a Cook Country commissioner.
But the CTU political playbook has also infuriated some who heard the call and thought they were doing the right thing.
Froy Jimenez did not get the CTU´s endorsement, but he did get both the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times endorsements.
¨I followed the CTU endorsement process,¨ he told Second City Teachers. ¨I was the only person who applied for formal endorsement by submitting my candidate questionnaire responses on time. I was later interviewed by the PAC/Legislative Committee and subsequently that committee recommended me fully for CTU endorsement.¨
¨CTU later got involved at the Executive level and first proposed that they were ´meeting with Munoz´ to arrange a possible deal to help them in the future with the CTU Legislative agenda, essentially throwing me, their own union member, under the bus.¨
Jimenez later storm the stage at a House of Delegates meeting to demand his endorsement. One delegate coaxed him to sit down and wait til the next meeting. The next meeting came and no endorsement was made in his senate race.
He said Munoz never interviewed with the PAC committee. He simply called up the leadership and was granted a meeting.
Jimenez said he did not support the CTU´s endorsement of Toni Preckwinkle because she is a part of the Chicago Machine. However, he never opposed the endorsements of House Speak Mike Madigan, another political insider.
Munoz is also part of the machine who in the past supported SB7 which whacked the union´s collective bargaining and seniority rights and has supported charter schools.
However, so did Madigan and many from the Democratic Party. The union can attest that they have changed the party´s line on charter schools and anti-union measures.
But as CORE´s message of racial and social justice rings loud and clear throughout the city, the expectations of several members like Jimenez have been elevated and then crushed when faced with the reality of cold, hard politics.
Former PAC Committee leader Ben Coyle also left the PAC/Leg Committee because he was disappointed with the Executive Committee and CORE and Joey McDermott says he was fired for questioning the union´s reliance on old school politics and not getting the members more involved.
By Jim Vail
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| Froy Jimenez |
Froy Jimenez thought he did everything he was supposed to do to get the Chicago Teachers Union endorsement to run for state senator.
He led the CTU Political Action Committee and he served as a strike captain during the 2019 Chicago teachers strike. If there was a union battle, he was ready to fight the fight.
But the CTU decided to not endorse him for the state senate and instead stay neutral in his race against Democrat Tony Munoz.
CORE´s first president Karen Lewis encouraged her fellow CTU members to run for political office to save public education.
But this encouragement ran against the hard cold reality of backing winners to fight in Springfield.
Several CTU members who have run for office did not get their union´s endorsement. The PAC committee did not endorse Lindblom High School teacher and delegate Ed Hershey when he ran for alderman on the Southwest Side, and they did not endorse music teacher and delegate Angie Maloney when she ran for alderman on the North Side.
Today CTU President Jesse Sharkey and Vice President Stacy Gates do not tell their members to run for political office. They do tell them to vote.
The teachers union political strategy appears to be winning. They have helped elect several CTU members, including Sue Garza as alderwoman on the Southeast Side, Aaron Ortiz as state representative and union organizer Brandon Johnson as a Cook Country commissioner.
But the CTU political playbook has also infuriated some who heard the call and thought they were doing the right thing.
Froy Jimenez did not get the CTU´s endorsement, but he did get both the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times endorsements.
¨I followed the CTU endorsement process,¨ he told Second City Teachers. ¨I was the only person who applied for formal endorsement by submitting my candidate questionnaire responses on time. I was later interviewed by the PAC/Legislative Committee and subsequently that committee recommended me fully for CTU endorsement.¨
¨CTU later got involved at the Executive level and first proposed that they were ´meeting with Munoz´ to arrange a possible deal to help them in the future with the CTU Legislative agenda, essentially throwing me, their own union member, under the bus.¨
Jimenez later storm the stage at a House of Delegates meeting to demand his endorsement. One delegate coaxed him to sit down and wait til the next meeting. The next meeting came and no endorsement was made in his senate race.
He said Munoz never interviewed with the PAC committee. He simply called up the leadership and was granted a meeting.
Jimenez said he did not support the CTU´s endorsement of Toni Preckwinkle because she is a part of the Chicago Machine. However, he never opposed the endorsements of House Speak Mike Madigan, another political insider.
Munoz is also part of the machine who in the past supported SB7 which whacked the union´s collective bargaining and seniority rights and has supported charter schools.
However, so did Madigan and many from the Democratic Party. The union can attest that they have changed the party´s line on charter schools and anti-union measures.
But as CORE´s message of racial and social justice rings loud and clear throughout the city, the expectations of several members like Jimenez have been elevated and then crushed when faced with the reality of cold, hard politics.
Former PAC Committee leader Ben Coyle also left the PAC/Leg Committee because he was disappointed with the Executive Committee and CORE and Joey McDermott says he was fired for questioning the union´s reliance on old school politics and not getting the members more involved.
I was not recommended for endorsement by the CTU PAC committee when I ran for 25th ward alserman. But I did receive the union's endorsement at the House of Delegates in January of 2015. Jim Vail here rose to put forward my endorsement.
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