Tag Archives: CTU

CPS seeking order to stop 1-day teachers strike

(CHICAGO) Chicago Public Schools is seeking a legal order to stop a potential one-day Chicago Teachers Union strike, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Attorneys for CPS filed a motion with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, seeking an injunction that would block any potential strike, saying the union’s previous one-day strike in 2016 was “illegal.”

“CTU is poised to engage in another unlawful strike,” attorneys for CPS wrote.

Earlier this month, the CTU’s House of Delegates agreed to discuss the possibility of a one-day strike on May 1. The proposed strike would be in response to the prospect of losing 13 school days at the end of the year as well as CPS’ lack of a long-term funding plan.

It would be the second one-day strike by the CTU in 13 months.

Last year, the Labor Relations Board found that the April 1, 2016, teacher’s strike was likely illegal because the union had not completed a fact-finding process.

CPS is asking the board to issue a new injunction that would prohibit any future strikes that did not abide by state law.

“Because this threatened strike, as was the April 1st strike, is unlawful and is exactly the sort of continued unlawful action contemplated by the IELRB’s prior Order, the CBE respectfully requests that the IELRB immediately reiterate and reauthorize its direction that its General Counsel seek injunctive relief,” CPS lawyers wrote.

The union plans to vote on the May 1 one-day strike on April 5. The proposed strike would coincide with International Labor Day.

At a CTU delegates meeting earlier this month, the agenda item read “Resolved that the CTU delegates will conduct discussions and hold meetings in their workplaces about a May 1st strike for revenue in solidarity with labor and immigrants, with the aim of taking a vote in the regular April 5th House of Delegates meeting on whether or not to recommend a one-day strike to the CTU membership.”

— Chicago Sun-Times

© Copyright 2017 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

CTU members vote to ratify contract

(CHICAGO) Tentative voting results indicate the 25,000 active members of the Chicago Teachers Union have ratified an agreement reached with Chicago’s school board, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

About 72 percent of members counted as of Tuesday night voted “yes,” with about 28 percent opposed, according to a CTU statement. Less than 60 schools were still waiting to be counted as of 9:30 p.m., but “the number of votes outstanding will not significantly alter the result,” officials said, with a final count expected in “a day or two.”

“This has taken nearly two years to reach a fair contract settlement,” CTU President Karen Lewis said in the statement. “Now educators can focus their full energies on their classrooms as we continue to fight for equity throughout the district.”

A simple majority of votes was required for the four-year agreement that maintains a 7 percent pension benefit and doles out raises in years three and four to become the teachers contract.

After holding a series of informational meetings last week, the union postponed the voting planned for Thursday and Friday, saying it wanted to give members time over the weekend to read printed copies of the full deal before deciding. It denied needing more time to sell the potential contract’s provisions.

Some rank and file members grumbled about the deal because its lack of guarantees for social workers and others serving children with special needs. Several took to Facebook to call for a “no” vote.

But in holding out the union secured at least $100 million more in benefits compared to a January offer its 40-member Big Bargaining Team shot down. The city has agreed to kick in about $88 million in surplus tax increment financing money.

CPS officials have refused to discuss the deal’s total price tag or cost to taxpayers. Sources have told the Chicago Sun-Times that it’s worth about $8.9 billion over four years.

If the full membership votes the agreement down after casting secret ballots at schools on Monday and Tuesday, the union could strike while negotiators from the union and Chicago Public Schools return to the bargaining table.

Union delegates had authorized a strike after talks had dragged on for well over a year, but then overwhelmingly voted to recommend the agreement that staved off the second teachers strike since Mayor Rahm Emanuel took over, just minutes before an Oct. 19 midnight strike deadline.

Four years ago, after the CTU did strike for seven school days, just over 79 percent of union members who voted on the deal reached with the school board approved it. Then it went before the Board of Education for a formal vote.

The agreement is expected to go before the school board at the next scheduled meeting on Dec. 7.

— Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago students, teachers back to class after strike threat

(CHICAGO) Students and teachers in Chicago are heading back to the classroom after the Chicago Teachers Union and the nation’s third-largest school district averted a strike with a late-night tentative contract agreement.

The union had been prepared to hit the picket lines Tuesday morning for what would have been the second major Chicago Public Schools strike since 2012.

But just before a midnight deadline, the union and CPS said Monday it had reached a deal. It still must be approved by the union’s House of Delegates and its full membership, a process that could take weeks.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and union President Karen Lewis both said they were relieved that the district’s nearly 400,000 students will be in class Tuesday.

The four-year proposal includes cost-of-living increases in the third and fourth year.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Chicago teachers, school district continues contract talks

(CHICAGO) Negotiators for the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools continue to meet in an effort to reach a contract and avert a threatened teacher strike.

The two sides were quiet Sunday, a day after the union’s 40-member big bargaining unit met to review its position on a potential contract. The bargaining unit — representing about 28,000 members — rejected the district’s last offer in February. The teachers union has set a Tuesday strike date.

Union leaders have outlined a $200 million wish list to offset cuts to pay and benefits.

CPS has said it continues to work within the framework of the offer it made in January, which included pay increases and other items such as a cap on the number of privately operated charter schools in Chicago.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Moody’s pushes CPS credit rating deeper into junk status

(CHICAGO) Moody’s Investors Service pushed the debt of the Chicago Public Schools further into junk territory on the same day the district’s teachers threatened to strike.

In downgrading its debt Monday from B2 to B3, Moody’s called CPS’ financial condition “precarious” and “acute.” The new rating is one notch above the C level Moody’s describes as “speculative (and) of poor standing, and are subject to very high credit risk.”

Moody’s said its revised rating “reflects the expectation that the district’s credit pressures will intensify in the current fiscal year.”

In announcing its rating move, Moody’s referenced “strong employee bargaining groups that impede cost-cutting efforts.” The Chicago Teachers Union announced Monday its members voted 95 percent in favor to authorize a strike if necessary to obtain a new contract.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Chicago teachers approve a strike

(CHICAGO) Members of the Chicago teachers union have voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike. The union says 95 percent of it’s members voted to walk off the job in balloting that took place last week, and over 90 percent cast ballots.

No date has been set for a walkout, which would be the second teacher’s strike in the city in the past four years. By law, the teachers cannot go on strike until at least ten days after a strike date is set.

The teachers have been working under terms of their old contract, which expired last year. Negotiations are continuing on a new pact, after the Board of Education passed a budget that is heavily contingent on state funding which may not materialize amid the budget standoff between Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The CTU House of Delegates is set to meet this Wednesday.

@ 2016 WLS-AM News

Chicago Teachers Union begins strike authorization vote

(CHICAGO) Teachers in the nation’s third-largest school district are casting ballots on whether they support a strike.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union began voting for a strike authorization on Wednesday. Voting lasts through Friday. Union officials say the results won’t be available right away.

The union needs 75 percent support, which is expected. A similar vote in December garnered support from roughly 88 percent of the voting members. Union members say the second vote offers legal cover.

If the union goes on strike, they have to give the district 10 days of notice. The earliest a walkout could take place is mid-October.

The contract expired in June 2015. Negotiations with Chicago Public Schools officials have focused on cost-of-living raises, pension contributions and health care.

The union represents over 25,000 members.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Chicago teachers set to protest

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) Chicago Teachers Union members are planning to march and protest this morning in downtown Chicago, seeking greater funding for education.

Teacher’s Union VIce President Jesse Sharkey told “The Big John Howell Show” on WLS that the answer to the school funding crisis is for the State Legislature to impose a graduated income tax that would have wealthy Illinoisans paying more.

“Really what I think we need is progressive revenue, revenue that comes from the people with the most ability to pay, added into the school funding formula. Then have the funding formula reflect things like student need, high concentration of poverty, high concentration of English language learners, some of the things that makes educating students difficult in Chicago.”

The opening of Chicago Public Schools this fall is in question because the Illinois Legislature has failed to pass a budget that would fund Chicago schools.

Chicago Teachers Union – Chicago teachers to turn furlough day into ‘fight back’ day with June 22 Loop protests

Today’s Demonstrations by the CTU

Related actions begin at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 22 (the day after the school year ends) at the following sites:

RiverPoint Plaza – 444 W. Lake St.
United Airlines – 233 S. Wacker Dr.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel LLC – 131 S. Dearborn St.
City Hall: Press Event for elected Civilian Police Accountability Council
Board of Education HQ, – 42 W. Madison

The Chicago Teachers Union has called on its 27,000 members to turn an imposed furlough day into a “fight back” day by converging on City Hall and sites throughout downtown to illustrate the call for just and progressive revenue solutions for schools.

Starting as early as 8:30 a.m. the Union, parents, students and other education justice activists will head to five target sites to illustrate the hypocrisy coming from the fifth floor of City Hall and Emanuel’s handpicked school board. The demonstration will conclude with a rally and speak out at the Thompson Center to connect the dots between Governor Bruce Rauner’s notorious “turnaround agenda” and the mayor’s refusal to fully support public schools.

For more information, and the reason for the demonstrations at each of the locations, visit the following link.

Source: Chicago Teachers Union | Chicago teachers to turn furlough day into ‘fight back’ day with June 22 Loop protests

Big John Howell Show Notes 5-25-16

Republican lawmakers in the House used a Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday to push for impeachment of Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen for what they see as his breaching “every single duty he had.” Congressman Peter Roskam from the 6th district joined John to talk about the impeachment proceedings, and also weighed in on the report that House Speaker Paul Ryan will endorse Donald Trump. (Listen here)

The clock is still ticking on the legislative session in Springfield, and they seem to be no closer to coming up with a budget compromise. Prisons, schools and the state’s bond rating at risk if a compromise is not found, and after May it would require a three-fifths majority to pass a budget. Illinois State Representative Ron Sandack from the 81st district joined John with an update on what’s happening in Springfield. (Listen here)

While the NFL pledged money, held news conferences and issued media releases about its commitment to player health, safety and concussion research, the league also was engaged in a campaign to steer money away from a prominent Boston University researcher and attempted to redirect it to members of its own committee on brain injuries, according to a scathing Congressional report. ESPN Reporter and Legal Analyst Lester Munson joined John with reaction to the story. (Listen here)

The White Sox fell to the Cleveland Indians 6-2 on Tuesday. Starting pitcher Chris Sale fell to 9-1 on the season, ruining his chance to go undefeated for the year. White Sox play-by-play voice Ed Farmer joined John to talk him off of the ledge after Sale’s first loss of the season. (Listen here)

Protesters lit fires, smashed a door and threw rocks outside a Donald Trump rally Tuesday night in New Mexico. The scene outside Albuquerque’s convention center was chaotic as police ushered protesters away from Trump’s event and into the nearby streets.

The fight against dog leavings in Chicago is about to go to a whole new level. Now not only could private property owners be hit with a fine for dog poop on their property, but apartment owners could also be hit with a fine if their tenants leave some little nuggets on their property.

Joseph Ocol is in a fight with the Chicago Teachers Union. He decided to cross picket lines to help his chess team during the CTU one-day strike on April 1st, which the union views as a violation.

Greek fighter jets intercepted a US passenger plane over the Mediterranean just hours after the EgyptAir disaster sparking claims its pilots did not make contact because they were asleep. The two military aircraft were scrambled when the Delta Airlines pilots ‘failed to make contact’ with Greek aviation officials after entering the country’s airspace.

A Florida man who lost his hand to an alligator is talking about his experience. The alligator checked him out while he was swimming, before eventually biting his hand off and also biting him on the leg. The alligator was later found, but his arm could not be recovered.

Taylor Swift is apparently a favorite of Neo-Nazi’s who say she’s preparing America for our glorious Fascist future. One conspiracy theory says she will wait until Donald Trump is elected President, at which point she will marry one of the Trump sons and they will become the new American royalty.

Update: The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus is asking the Padres to give the fired DJ another chance. He says it was all a mistake and the worst moment of his life, so they are willing to give him another chance.