CTU Pays to Regain Bargaining Rights
By Jim Vail
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| Gerald Adler, a retiree who constantly battled to repeal the Amendatory Act can be seen about 15 years ago passing out flyers at a CTU House of Delegates meeting standing next to former CTPF President Jay Rehak. |
The Chicago Teachers Union celebrated a great victory by getting the governor to sign a bill that restored the union's bargaining rights that Mayor Richard Daley had teamed up with Republicans to take away.
But while congratulations and plenty of likes lit up the social media world - the truth is the union did it the old fashioned way - they paid for it.
Just two days before Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed HB 2275 that will allow the Chicago teachers to bargain with the city over important issues such as class size and layoffs, the CTU sent a check for $59,900 to the new House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch.
The more things change, the more they stay the same?
The CTU had a tight relationship with former House Speaker Mike Madigan who ran Springfield like the Daleys once ran City Hall. But a corruption scandal that tied Madigan to payoffs from ComEd for favorable legislation led to his downfall.
While Madigan's name was synonymous with corruption, it was also tied to the unions who paid him a lot of money to protect working people from the wrath of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner who wanted Illinois to become a Right to Work state where teachers and other workers would make a lot less money.
The corporate newspaper Chicago Tribune campaigned heavily to oust Madigan from office. Many speculated that Madigan's problems helped billionaire Ken Griffen and the business community defeat the Fair Tax Amendment that would increase taxes on the wealthy to fund public education and pensions.
But the cold hard fact remains that this corrupt system where you must pay to play is a reality that does not disappear once one corrupt politician, and a powerful one at that, exits stage right.
The CTU is a politically powerful player who defeated the mayor in getting this bill signed.
Repealing the act was one of the goals of Core ever since it took power over a decade ago. Going back to the old UPC days before Karen Lewis was elected the new CTU President in 2010, there was a retired delegate named Gerald Adler who many of us new delegates thought was a complete nut. Every time he was at the mic at a House of Delegates meeting he would shake his paper and rail that the union must repeal Section 4.5 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, otherwise known as the Amendatory Act, which restricted the union's bargaining power since 1995, when state lawmakers gave Daley control of the school district. The Mayor and the business class were upset after many teachers' strikes in the 70s and 80s that gave teachers a decent salary today. After the Act was passed the CTU did not go on another strike until 2012 after Core was elected. Former CTU President Thomas Reese who negotiated several teachers contracts with the Daley regime said the only strike he wanted to see was in a bowling alley.
President Jesse Sharkey noted that about 50 current delegates remember Gerald, who former President Lewis would fondly call out during her speeches to the delegates.
According to former Substance News editor George Schmidt, Adler was one of the original members who pushed the union into collective bargaining during the 1960s and he remained an activist, issuing his own leaflets at most of the union's House of Delegates.
"Since Marilyn Steward became President of the 30,000-member union (a membership that has decreased by more than ten percent since she was installed in office in 2004), she has assigned special union 'Security' personnel (reportedly off-duty Chicago police officers) to stand beside Adler during union meetings and escort him out as soon as he voices an opinion in disagreement with her."
Where ever Adler is, he as well as Karen would be smiling down on this union. The destruction and privatization of public education began right after the Amendatory Act was passed when Mayor Daley started closing public schools and replacing them with corrupt charter schools and outsourcing via corrupt no bid contracts that helped send former CPS Chief Barbara Byrd Bennett to prison.
But while corrupt business forces intent on destroying the people's public education conspired with a corrupt mayor to take away the teachers union bargaining rights, an equally corrupt system gave the teachers union their rights back to bargain again like all teachers unions can do in this state.
We may be celebrating as teachers and defenders of public education, but the pernicious effect of money in politics is ultimately impoverishing most people here where if you don't have the money, you can't play the game.
It amazes me how African American teachers are invisible when we tell union history. The Black community bore the brunt of the CTU mishaps and gift backs to the mayor.They are the only teacher demographic that lost thousands of teachers as a result of loss of systeSince the late 90's as a result of the loss of systemwide seniority by CTU president Lymch causing the closing of 100 schools in Black communities. Later under SB7 and Karen Lewis, the loss of seniority in economic layoffs allowed Rham to close 50 schools and racially fire thousands of Black teachers.There will be no victory until these educators are made whole.
ReplyDeleteamazes me how African American teachers are invisible when we tell union history. The Black community bore the brunt of the CTU mishaps and gift backs to the mayor.They are the only teacher demographic that lost thousands of teachers as a result of the loss of systemwide seniority by CTU president Lynch,causing the closing of 100 schools in Black communities. Later under SB7 and Karen Lewis, the loss of seniority in economic layoffs allowed Rham to close 50 schools and racially fire thousands of Black teachers.Since the 1995 Amendatory Act was passed, Black teachers were 45% of a 36;000+ member union . Approximately 17;000 strong. Today there are 4,000 African American educators. There will be no victory until these educators get justice.
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