The president of the Chicago Teachers Union spoke to The Progressive about the union’s new contract that will protect Chicago educators and students from the threats of the Trump Administration.
Nader Issa, Sarah Karp | WBEZ and Michael Puente | WBEZ
Chicago Sun-Times
The contract is the CTU’s first without a strike or a strike vote in 15 years. The agreement sets lower class size limits, gives pay raises and could add hundreds of new staff members.
Stacy Davis Gates, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez
Democracy Now!
In a major labor victory, the Chicago Teachers Union reached a tentative agreement with Chicago Public Schools Monday night that reaffirms sanctuary school protections, protects the ability to teach Black history, and gives veteran teachers a raise.
Black and Latina women are driving labor union growth in the U.S. amid a decades-long decline in membership. In 2023, Black women’s union membership rate notched a slight bump from 10.3% to 10.5%, while Latinas went up from 8.5% to 8.8%.
Melissa Blount and Matt Reed; Illustrator: Joe Brusky
Rethinking Schools
The seeds of our strike were sown 10 years ago. In the 2013–2014 school year, school district leaders demanded more than 75 concessions, including bigger class sizes, fewer workload protections, and cuts to healthcare benefits.
For the US there is much to learn from the Chilean experience about relationships between left government, movements, and popular protagonism and the importance of political clarity, socialist strategy and organization.
We have gone from the dynamic of opposition to the dynamic of a campaign and now to the dynamic of working with our comrade in office, all within a few short months.
What Oakland’s teachers union reveals about labor strikes in 2023: "Common good" bargaining--focusing not only on pay and benefits but also issues like reparations, housing, and transportation--is offering a fresh strategy for other unions.
Brandon Johnson’s mayoral victory is a first step toward transforming the deeply unequal city. If he’s going to undertake radical reform efforts in Chicago, Johnson needs protests and strikes to fend off the inevitable capitalist attacks.
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