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CHICAGO
TEACHERS UNION ENDS WALKOUT AFTER STUDENTS LOSE 5 DAYS
Illinois Policy Institute/
Dylan Sharkey
Chicago students will be back in classes
Jan. 12 after losing five days of instruction thanks to a walkout by the
Chicago Teachers Union. The union forced more COVID-19 testing, but
damaged students’ educations for the third time in 27 months to do so.
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 The Chicago Teachers Union’s
governing body voted 389 to 226 to return to classrooms, ending a walkout over
COVID-19 testing that cost students five days of instruction and was the union’s
third work stoppage in 27 months.
Chicago Public Schools agreed all schools will begin testing at least 10% of
their student population, but parents must permit their children to be part of
the testing program. CTU wanted all students tested unless parents chose to
remove them from the program. The district refused, giving parents control of
their children’s testing.
The district is aiming to have 100% of students tested and vaccinated by Feb 1.
Additionally, the two parties agreed on a metric based on staff and student
absences in quarantine that would trigger an individual school to shift to
remote learning.
Parents were upset with CTU for forcing students out of classes and were
organizing against the work stoppage. One group of parents sued, trying to end
what they said was an illegal work stoppage.
“The Catholic school is open down the street from me and the parking lots are
full, so it doesn’t make sense that our public schools are closed,” said Sarah
Sachen, a mother of four CPS students.
“At my schools, most of the teachers are vaccinated, my children are vaccinated,
and the schools are following masking and distancing protocols, so I feel safe
sending my kids to school,” she said. “I’m very upset by the current situation
with the Chicago Teachers Union.”
CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates cast the union as a victim in the dispute
and criticized parents who were outraged by the work stoppage.
“This is the second January in a row where we have had to be held hostage, quite
frankly, in hostage negotiations,” she said. “What parents don’t know is that
without the workers, the school workers in our building, you don’t have
anything.”
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CPS CEO Pedro Martinez
thanked the 16% of teachers who reported to buildings Jan. 10,
allowing over 150 schools to offer some in-person activities.
Teacher Joe Ocol said students should not be used as pawns by union
leaders with a political agenda who are bent on power plays.
“Our students lose every day there’s a strike. They have already
lost more than a year of learning. And now another loss for them is
so sad,” he said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot dodged questions about which side “won” the
standoff, but said she is relieved kids will be back in school.
“I’m hopeful this is the end, at least for this school year,”
Lightfoot said, referring to the CTU labor disputes spanning years.
CTU forced work stoppages three times in 27 months, including 11
days of instruction lost in 2019. Before that, CTU actions in 2016
cost students a day and in 2012 cost seven days.
But Lightfoot may be engaging in wishful thinking, especially if a
proposal to enshrine union powers in the Illinois Constitution
passes in November.
Amendment 1 gives union bosses permanent powers that could override
state laws and a constitutional protection no other special interest
enjoys. Lawmakers could never diminish union powers or repeal
Amendment 1, even in a unanimous vote.
Before Illinois voters decide Nov. 8 whether government unions need
more power in Illinois, they should examine how CTU has used the
power it already has.
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