Chicago Schools Are on the Verge of Two Strikes
In their 2012 strike, nearly 30,000 Chicago Teachers Union members planted a flag for labor militancy in public education. Today, they’re again on the verge of another strike — and they may be joined by 7,000 SEIU education workers.
A Chicago teacher picketing during a one-day strike wears a Chicago Teachers Union Local 1 sweater and a sticker and button on April 1, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois.Joshua Lott / Getty
The Chicago Teachers Union may paint the town CTU red as they did in 2012 if they strike this fall. But they could be joined by a big splash of SEIU purple.
The other major union in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Service Employees International Union Local 73, representing 7,000 special education classroom assistants, custodians, bus aides, and security guards, is also without a contract, and its members voted by a wide margin this summer to authorize a strike if they don’t get a living wage and protection against privatization.
Like the CTU, Local 73 argues that members’ struggle is about more than dollars and cents — it’s a fight for the schools that Chicago’s students, teachers, and staff deserve. But in a union where the average member working in CPS makes around the amount that the federal government classifies as a very low income for a family of two in the Chicago area, the dollars and cents matter, too.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.