Chicago teachers defeat plan to gut union, schools

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CHICAGO—After a nine-day strike that electri­ fied this city and won broad support from work­ ing people, the 26,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union returned, heads held high, to the classroom Sept. 19 after successfully pushing back against an all-out attack against their union. The teachers’ strike ended the day before by a vote of the union’s House of Delegates after a demo­ cratic discussion of a tentative agreement reached with the Chicago School Board. The contract was approved on Oct. 2 by a 79.1% vote of the union membership.

In the face of an attempt to completely bust their union, the CTU was forced to strike, as the school board refused to back down from its demands for massive concessions. The union was well prepared for the strike, having mobilized the rank and file for a multitude of actions over the past two years and having built ties with neighborhood and par­ ent organizations.

The union maintained picket lines outside of all 615 Chicago public schools and CPS headquar­ ters. Neighborhoods were dotted with groups of teachers wearing red CTU shirts and holding signs at major intersections and expressway overpass­ es. Parents, students, and community members joined the picket lines, knowing that the teachers were fighting for better schools. made some gains, but That Saturday a mass solidarity rally in Union Park of over 10,000 workers, many from unions from around the Midwest, again took over parts of Chicago. The following day, CTU officers presented the tentative agreement to the House of Delegates. In a move that shocked the corporate media and political class, the House of Delegates voted to continue the strike, not on a basis of rejecting the agreement outright, but so delegates could review the agreement and get input from their members. This exemplary display of union democracy was met by denunciations from the media and politicians, most of all Rahm Emanuel, who filed, unsuccessfully, for an emergency injunction to force teachers back to work.

That Monday teachers headed back to the picket lines in the morning and in the afternoon each school met in locations across the city to democratically dis­ cuss the pros and cons of the deal and whether their delegate should vote to suspend the strike. The follow­ ing day, the House of Delegates, after an intense and heated discussion of the tentative agreement voted to suspend the strike.

Significant gains; painful concessions The contract negotiated by the union blunted the worst of the proposals made by the school board, made gains in other areas, and also included some painful concessions.

Among the provisions defended and gained are:

• The contract preserves step-and-lane increases, in which teachers are paid more based on seniority and educational level, and it beat back the boards’ proposal for merit pay, where teachers would receive salary increases based on their students’ performance on standardized tests. Merit pay is the signature issue of groups like Stand for Children and other anti-union education “reform” outfits who assumed the new anti-union law would force CTU to accept it. They seek to erode teacher seniority and increase even further the use of standardized tests.

• Teachers gained salary increases of 3%, 2%, and 2%, and an optional 4th year at 3%. The contract is for three years, with the union having an option to void the 4th year, at which time the end of the contract would coincide with the mayoral election.

• Maintained current health-care benefit levels: The board proposed a 40% increase in employee contribu­ tions. This was a major victory, as almost all collective bargaining contracts, both public and private sector, contain health-care concessions these days. However, the union agreed to participate in an intrusive “well­ ness program” aimed at reducing health care costs.

• Many improvements in work-rule language, in­ cluding an anti-harassment article to protect teach­ ers from bullying principals: The contract preserved classroom size language that the board wanted elimi­ nated. Teachers are guaranteed textbooks for their students starting on the first day of school. There was also improved language for clinicians, paraprofession­ als, nurses, and social workers, and the board agreed (continued on page 11, in “S. African miners resist repression Will winds from Chicago be felt in Philly?”)