After defying an order to return to school buildings they deemed unsafe, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has voted to approve a significantly revised plan to reopen elementary schools next month. On Tuesday, 13,681 CTU members (68% of those who participated) voted to approve the agreement, while 6,585 members voted against it. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) had …
As Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot presses ahead with a controversialplan to reopen elementary schools next Monday, the 25,000-member Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) may be headed into its third strike since 2012. Closed since March because of the coronavirus crisis, K?8 schools are set to resume in-person classes on February 1, with parents having the option of sending their children back …
Chicago Teachers Are Showing the Country How to Fight an Unsafe Reopening Read More »
Delegates of the Chicago Teachers Union have just sent a referendum to members: shall we all work remotely starting Monday, January 25? That’s the date when many were assigned to return to schools. If the district retaliates, delegates will reconvene to take a strike vote. The plan was voted up by a large majority in …
Chicago Teachers Are Voting on Whether to Defy Monday’s Reopening Order Read More »
As the coronavirus pandemic enters its deadliest phase yet, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and its allies are resisting Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to reopen school buildings and resume in-person learning this month. Over 10,000 CTU members have pledged their opposition to the reopening plan put forward by the mayor and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), citing serious concerns over safety …
Chicago Teachers Are Considering a Strike Amid Pandemic Surge Read More »
As a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) student from first grade through high school, and in my 17 years of teaching in the system, none of my schools ever had a full-time social worker or nurse every day of the week. In the first contract the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) secured in the era of legalized public …
This September, the world erupted when over 7 million people?—?young and old—poured into the streets for the Global Climate Strike. The mass action, which made a Green New Deal a top demand, was sparked in the lead-up to Sweden’s 2018 general election, when teen activist Greta Thunberg began ditching school to protest Sweden’s inaction on climate change. Greta, who …
The Climate Strikers Walked Out of School. Next, Let’s Walk Off the Job. Read More »
Chicago teachers and staff returned to the classrooms Friday after more than two weeks on strike. Their walkout lasted longer than the city’s landmark 2012 strike, as well as those in Los Angeles and Oakland earlier this year. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strike also lasted long enough for the season’s first snowstorm to blanket …
The Chicago Teachers Union reported a tentative agreement with schools management Wednesday night, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot is holding up the end of the strike in a disagreement over make-up instructional days. In previous strikes, the schools have added make-up days to the end of the school year—but Lightfoot doesn’t want to do that. Chicago …
Chicago teachers reach tentative agreement but one key thing is missing to end strike Read More »
“I solemnly swear that I will never stop fighting for my students.” This hand-made picket sign, one of hundreds at an October 25 Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and SEIU 73 rally, sums up what makes the teachers’ strike so important. In an approach CTU pioneered during its 2012 strike, the 25,000-strong CTU refuses to draw a firm …
Chicago Teachers Are Carrying the Torch of Decades of Militant Worker Struggles Read More »
Chicago teachers say that just half of one percent of the Chicago Public Schools budget is between what they would accept to end their strike and the city’s current offer. That’s $38 million as the strike closes schools for a ninth day. Not only that, the teachers point to nearly $100 million of costs that have been …
Chicago teachers say 0.5% of the schools budget stands in the way of ending their strike Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
