CTU Mayor Endorsement

House of Delegates Endorse Brandon Johnson for Mayor

By Jim Vail

The CTU did not endorse U.S. Rep Chuy Garcia.

The Chicago Teachers Union endorsed Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson to be Mayor of Chicago.

The question on many minds was why wouldn't the CTU wait to see if beloved Congressman Chuy Garcia will enter the race for mayor. He leads the pack of opponents who has the most name recognition to defeat Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Retiree delegate and former PACT official Lou Pyster said at the House of Delegates meeting last week that the bottom line is the the union wants to win the election. Winning has always been paramount in the CTU's strategy to back progressive politicians who will support the Teachers Union political agenda.

That winning strategy has resulted in successful legislation being passed, such as restoring collective bargaining rights, passing an elected school board bill, restoring the pension levy, and adding a schools closing and charter moratorium to save the public schools.

Chuy Garcia was once the darling of the Chicago Teachers Union. The union backed him in 2015 to run against Mayor 1% Rahm Emanuel who closed over 50 schools and went to war against the CTU. They gave at least half a million dollars to the Garcia campaign that forced Emanuel to a run-off that he eventually won.

However, what happened next is perhaps a lesson in getting schooled by corrupt politics.

The Chuy Garcia phenomenon that the CTU helped engineer eventually went haywire. Garcia moved up the ladder and won a seat as Congressman and suddenly he no longer returned the union's calls.

CTU VP Jackson Potter told the delegates that Chuy is no longer a friend of this union.

"After the first run-off in the city's history he has fallen largely silent," Jackson told the delegates.

Jackson said Garcia stayed on the sidelines during their strikes and backed Mayor Lighfoot in the last election.

This reminds me of another politician that the CTU helped catapult to national success only to be shunned once he attained higher office.

President Barack Obama was an obscure state representative 20 years ago who got an endorsement from Chicago Teachers Union President Debbie Lynch. Suddenly his name became more pronounced and his star appeal shot up with the union's backing.

But fast forward to his getting elected the Democratic President in 2008. Despite the backing of many unions, President Obama did not institute the promised union card check which would have allowed workers to simply sign a card to become a union rather than hold elections that the bosses could manipulate.

The Obama education agenda became grossly anti-public education and anti-teachers unions when he implemented the Race to the Top program to privatize the public schools and blame the unions for "failing schools."

He now had to listen to the billionaires hell bent on destroying public education because they funded his campaign.

It appears the CTU strategy is to create another political superstar that they want to keep close to their chest. Brandon Johnson doubles as a full-time union organizer and a full-time Cook County Commissioner.

There are other commissioners who double as full-time lobbyists, and having a champion for union rights in the county government is certainly a plus for union workers.

But, should Brandon's star start to shoot up to the skies like President Obama, not to mention Chuy Garcia, the union will have to brace itself for what will come next.

Higher office, means needing more money. Money billionaires and multi-millionaires have to turn the agenda from pro-worker to pro-business/anti-union.

Plus, the mayor's role in running the schools is being diminished in Chicago with the new elected school board. The first school board will be entirely elected by voters in 2027.

It appears, however, that the CTU acknowledge this red flag in its endorsement resolution in which they stated, "Whereas that we do not seek (a) savior, and that it is the work of the many, not a single candidate, to organize and win such that new horizons - free lifelong care and education, housing and healthcare as a human right, clean air and water, replacing police and prisons with life affirming systems of care and justice are made possible."