Chicago Teachers Union votes to authorize strike

WGN News

2:37 p.m. CDT, June 11, 2012

CHICAGO?

Of the Chicago Teachers Union members who cast their ballots in a strike authorization vote, almost all of them voted yes, said CTU President Karen Lewis at a news conference Monday.

About 89 percent voted yes to authorize the strike. The union only needed 75 percent. Lewis calls this "an indictment of the state of relationship" between CPS and its teachers. Delegates for CTU will still have to vote, but the teachers have spoken.

"We want a contract that gives Chicago students the schools they desrve," Lewis said. "So we call on CPS to take this process seriously and neogotiate with us in good faith with an eye on the real prize: our children."

In calling for the vote, the union says it does not mean teachers will hit the picket line but it hopes the authorization will give them leverage at the bargaining table.

Teachers say they're not happy about the Board of Educatin's decision to rescind their 4 percent raises this year while requiring a longer school day in the fall. CTU is asking for a 29 percent pay increase over the next two years.

The Board of Education, however, says its strapped for cash and is facing a $3 billion deficit for the next three years. So for its part, the board is offering a guarantee of 2 percent raise over five years.

In a released statement Monday morning, Chicago Public Schools chiefJean-Claude Brizardaccused union officials of pressuring their members to authorize a strike.

?CTU leadership pushed their members to authorize a strike before giving them the opportunity to consider the independent fact finder?s compromise report due in July,? Brizard said. ?That's a shame. The CTU leadership left the teachers with a choice between a strike and nothing -- that's a false choice. As a former teacher, I am disappointed that union leadership would rush their members to vote for a strike before having the complete information on the table.?

The last Chicago teachers strike was a 19-day walk-out at the start of the 1987 school year. It was the longest teachers strike in the city?s history. The earliest teachers could strike this year would be Aug. 17, weeks before the majority of CPS students return to school in September.

The Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.

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