Illinois teachers-union leaders bow before the Democrats

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5) Reduce the workweek to 30 hours with no cut in pay, and cut the retirement age to 55. Provide unemployment and retirement payments at the We propose an EMERGENCY CONGRESS OF LABOR to discuss and take 6) To combat inflation: A sliding scale of wages and pensions that match1) Bail out the people, not the bankers! Open the account books of the es the rises in comsumer prices. To combat high medical costs: A free, unibanks to full public inspection. Nationalize the banks to be supervised by 7) Immediate citizenship for all undocumented workers. No job discrimi2) No foreclosures! No forced evictions! Cancel usurious debt payments, nation; equal pay for equal work — regardless of gender, sexual orientaand reduce mortgage payments in proportion to their capitalist-caused 8) Nationalize manufacturing, big agribusiness, energy, and transporta3) Full employment at union wages! An emergency public works program tion corporations and place them under the control of elected committees to employ all jobless workers and youth! Employ people to build what we need — low-cost quality housing, efficient mass transportation, cheap and renewable sources of power, schools, clinics — and to conserve our water, CONGRESS should organize ACTION COMMITTEES in every workplace and neighborhood threatened by the crisis. These committees can draw up 4) Immediate and full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq & Afghanistan!

Close all U.S. bases abroad! No money for the military — use funds instead 10) To put all these measures into effect, we need a LABOR PARTY — for public works! Convert the war industries to making products for peo- based on a fighting union movement and all people who are oppressed and Editor: Michael Schreiber International Editor: Gerry Foley Canada Editor: Barry Weisleder Socialist Action (ISSN 0747-4237) is published monthly by Socialist Action Publishing Association, P.O. Box 460501, San Francisco, CA 94146-0501. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Socialist Action, P.O. BOX 460501, San Francisco, CA 94146-0501. RATES: For one year (12 issues, 1st-class mail): U.S., Canada, Mexico — $20. All other countries — $30. Money orders and checks should be in U.S. dollars.

Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of Socialist Action. These are expressed in editorials. Socialist Action is edited, designed, and laid out entirely by volunteer labor. It is printed by members of Local 583, Allied Printing Trades Council, San Francisco, Calif. decline in value. Name City Phone CHICAGO—State houses and governors throughout the U.S. have put forth bills aimed at cutting education, firing teachers, and curtailing their union rights. A similar bill pending before the Illinois Senate would virtually end teachers’ seniority for job security, severely limit their ability to strike, and allow school boards to unilaterally impose working conditions.

But while in many states this would sound like the start of a new round of fighting between a Tea Party-backed governor and the labor movement, here it is quite different. In Illinois, voters bucked the national trend and retained “friends of labor” Democrats in both state houses and the governor’s office. The legislation was passed unanimously in the Democrat-controlled House.

There are no protests outside the capitol in Springfield like the historic labor mobilizations in Madison and throughout the country. Instead, the leaders of all the major teachers’ unions in the state are endorsing this antiteacher legislation.

The proposed law, SB 7, has as its crowning achievement (from the vantage point of teacher-union enemies) the end of seniority in determining teacher layoffs. SB 7 would end “last hired, first fired,” and determine layoffs based on each teacher’s performance—which, of course, is determined by management. The law would only enforce seniority if there were a “tie” in performance.

The reality of how such a “performance-based” system would function was exposed last year when Chicago Public School CEO Ron Huberman illegally fired 1300 teachers without regard to seniority, in violation of the union’s contract. Principals targeted higher seniority teachers— meaning higher paid teachers. The Chicago Reader ran a series of articles chronicling the firings of several highly accomplished teachers who had broad support among parents and students.

A WORKERS’ ACTION PROGRAM TO FIGHT THE CRISIS steps to implement the following demands — workers’ committees.

forests, farmland, and open space.

ple’s needs and to combat global warming.

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2 Socialist Action may 2011 Bill Pugliano / Getty Images April 13 protest at Michigan state capitol. But in Illinois, teachers’ unions endorsed state cuts!

The elimination of teacher seniority in layoffs will give a green light to school boards to get rid of more expensive higher seniority teachers regardless of performance. Initially, this provision will not apply to members of the Chicago Teachers Union until the outcome of lawsuits filed by CTU against the illegal firings are settled, though it will for teachers in the rest of the state—severely weakening CTU’s legal and bargaining options.

SB 7 also places draconian restrictions on the Chicago Teachers Union’s ability to strike. The new law would require 75% of the membership to vote to authorize a strike. That means that all eligible members who don’t vote would be counted as an effective “no” vote.

The bill also applies a series of “cool-off” periods that would delay any Chicago teacher strike by six months.

level of union wages and benefits.

versal, public health-care system.

tion, skin color, or national origin.

of workers.

exploited. For a workers’ government!

State Zip 9) To mobilize support for the demands it adopts, the EMERGENCY more concrete demands than the ones outlined above. • Ashland, Ore.: [email protected] • Ashland, Wis.: [email protected] • Boston: bostonsocialistaction@gmail. com (781) 630-0250 • Carrboro, N.C.: (919) 967-2866, [email protected] • Chicago: P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657, [email protected] • Connecticut: (860) 478-5300 • Duluth, Minn.:

P.O. Box 16853, Duluth, MN 55816, [email protected], www.the-red-raven.blogspot.com • Florida: [email protected] • Kansas City: [email protected] (816) 221-3638 • Louisville area / Lexington, Ky.: [email protected], (502) 451-2193 • Minneapolis/St. Paul: (612) 802-1482, [email protected] • New York City: (212) 781-5157 And the bill would also increase probationary periods before tenure for all Illinois teachers. It would give the Chicago Board of Education the right to unilaterally impose a lengthening of the school day.

On the heels of the historic labor mobilizations in Madison, Wis., where labor showed its massive potential in fighting the anti-union agenda, one might ask why Illinois teacher-union heads are not only accepting concessions but endorsing them. The answer is that these union tops are taking the wrong lesson from Madison. Instead of seeing it as a struggle that must spread, they view it as a conflict that must be avoided.

Illinois teachers-union leaders proclaimed the law as a victory since it does not contain the worst provisions proposed by anti-union organizations. CTU President Karen Lewis wrote a letter to the membership in support of the legislation, which read, “On Dec. 3, 2010, three groups backed by millionaires—Stand for Children, Advance Illinois and the Illinois Business Roundtable—slammed down an education “reform” proposal in Springfield dubbed ‘Performance Counts,’ which had one main goal: union-busting. “In an unprecedented effort, the three unions—Chicago Teachers Union, Illinois Federation of Teachers, and Illinois Education Association—joined forces to stop these millionaires from turning teaching into a low-wage, high turnover job. Had they succeeded, the goal of high-quality education for all students would have been lost forever. Had they succeeded, Illinois would have been the next Wisconsin. The initial proposal laid out a plan to outlaw using seniority as a factor in staffing decisions, make tenure nearly impossible to attain and more improbable to keep, eliminate the right to strike statewide, and, for Chicago only, prohibit permissive bargaining issues.” The teachers’ union leadership apparently believes that by taking concessions now they can avoid worse conces(continued on page 3, in “Special Offer for New Readers! Subscribe to Socialist Action Newspaper at a”)

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