The Chicago Teachers Union are not pleased with the school districts’ latest offering but are still willing to negotiate to avoid a serious strike this Monday. If the strike does take place, it will be the first teachers strike in Chicago in 25 years. Let’s pray for quick action so the kids can attend school on Monday. Read more below.
The Chicago Teachers Union also on Saturday announced its plans to set up strike headquarters in anticipation of an impasse, NBCChicago.com reported.
Nearly 30,000 teachers and support staff have threatened to strike on Monday, setting up an awkward confrontation between Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s former top White House aide, and organized labor in the president’s home city.
“There’s enough distance between the two sides that without some real movement, we’re not going to get this thing done on time,” CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey told NBCChicago.com.
If teachers walk off the job Monday, it would be the first teachers strike in Chicago in 25 years, affecting up to 400,000 students.View NBCChicago.com’s complete coverage of Chicago teachers contract issues
School officials have encouraged parents to have contingency plans on Monday. Chicago Public Schools Chief Jean-Claude Brizard said 144 schools will remain open for half-day programs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the event of a strike, according to NBCChicago.com.A protracted stoppage could sour relations between Obama’s Democrats and national labor unions, who are among the biggest financial paymasters of the Democratic Party and will be needed by the party to help get out the vote in the November elections.
Both sides in the dispute were tight-lipped as negotiators arrived at teachers’ union headquarters in downtown Chicago on Saturday for what union president Karen Lewis had described as “intense” bargaining.
While Emanuel did not attend the talks, he and Lewis have clashed, and she has accused him of being a bully and using profanity in private meetings.
When talks ended on Friday, the union described the latest offer from the school district as “totally unacceptable.”“I would say we did not make much progress at the table,” Lewis, who was visibly upset, told NBCChicago.com on Friday.
