Chicago Teachers Union strike, Day 2: No agreement reached as weekend starts

Chicago teachers forged ahead with day two of their strike Friday.

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The second day of the Chicago Teachers Union strike ended with no contract agreement in sight. Throughout the day, CTU and Chicago Public Schools officials traded words, and another rally made its way through the Loop where teachers were also joined by several other unions.

Here’s what went down during the second day of the strike:

6:50 p.m. No agreement reached as CTU, CPS officials head home for night

A second day of bargaining after 25,000 teachers went on strike ended with no deal Friday.

That means the strike, that has canceled classes, sports and other activities for 300,000 Chicago Public Schools students, will continue. Bargaining resumes Saturday at 1 p.m.

The day started with the city’s lead labor attorney accusing Chicago Teachers Union officers of a lack of urgency around bargaining.

— Lauren FitzPatrick, Nader Issa, and Fran Spielman break down what happened in negotiations throughout the day.

6:19 p.m. Rally wraps up as negotiations continue

Following a rally at Daley Plaza Friday afternoon, protesters took to the streets around City Hall, chanting and calling for a “fair contract.”

The strikers first circled City Hall, taking over the streets surrounding the building at 121 N. LaSalle Street and then marched east on Washington Street before turning north on Dearborn Street to head across the Chicago River.

At one point during the march, strikers stood simultaneously on the Dearborn and Clark street bridges over the river as they wrapped around Kinzie Street. They were greeted with honks from cars and waves from pedestrians on the street, many of which held up their cellphones to record and take pictures of the union’s display.

After returning to Daley Plaza, the rally and march wrapped up around 4 p.m., with the protesters turning in their signs and heading home.

Mallory Grieger, a second-year teacher at Hubbard High School, said she was at the rally the day before and planned to continue to be out at any future events.

“I’m a special ed teacher … and smaller class sizes would make a real difference,” Grieger said of why she came out.

Archma Bhondwe, an occupational therapist at five schools on the North Side, said even with a new contract she didn’t expect the number of schools she serves to be reduced. However, she said, she was there to support the teachers, who she also said could benefit from smaller class sizes and reduced paperwork.

“I see the teachers struggle every day,” Bhondwe said.

Bhondwe said she believes every mayor eventually finds a “pet project” for their administration to focus on and she wants Lightfoot to pick education.

“If it’s [Lightfoot’s] pet project, I think she’ll find the resources that we need,” Bhondwe said. “She’d have my vote.”

Matthew Hendrickson

3:48 p.m. Police union chimes in on teachers strike

So much for labor solidarity?

The Fraternal Order of Police marked the second day of a walkout by Chicago’s teachers and support staff with a comparison of how much better a deal the Chicago Teachers Union stands to secure compared with the police union, whose members have been shot at and killed in the course of duty.

As other city unions rallied around the CTU repping teachers and SEIU 73 repping other school support staff, a red and blue infographic appeared Friday on the FOP Lodge No. 7’s Facebook page.

Graphic comparing CTU and FOP

Facebook/FOP

Lauren FitzPatrick and Nader Issa reached out to an FOP spokesman about the graphic as well as CTU. See what they said.

2:57 p.m. ‘Let them hear you on the fifth floor.’: Striking unions join up for downtown march

A sea of red- and purple-clad strikers took to the streets downtown after a rally Friday and encircled City Hall before turning east on Washington Street and heading north on Dearborn Street.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union said they believed Thursday’s rally and march helped to drive significant movement in negotiations with the city.

“We have something that is historical happening here,” CTU organizer Maria Moreno told the crowd, featuring members of two unions that represent teachers and support staff, which are striking together for the first time.

Union members said they remained committed to keep up the pressure as bargaining continues.

“Let them hear you on the fifth floor,” SEIU 73 Executive Vice President Jeffrey Howard shouted to strikers from a podium at the base of the Picasso statue in Daley Plaza. “The labor movement is coming back.” 

Thousands of Chicago Teachers Union members and their supporters march through the Loop on day two of a Chicago Public Schools district-wide strike, Friday afternoon, Oct. 18, 2019.

Thousands of Chicago Teachers Union members and their supporters march through the Loop on day two of a Chicago Public Schools district-wide strike, Friday afternoon, Oct. 18, 2019.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Other speakers at the rally included representatives for unions fighting for nurses, bus drivers and train operators, as well as umbrella labor organizations like the Chicago Federation of Labor and the AFL-CIO.

Liz Schuler, representing the AFL-CIO, said she had come to Chicago to show teachers that the national labor movement supported them.

“Twelve-and-a-half million working men and women have your back,” she shouted to a roar of cheers from the fires up crowd.

Though smaller in number than the crowd of protesters that took the streets the day before, strikers filled the streets, chanting and singing songs in front of the east entrance to City Hall.

Matthew Hendrickson

1:51 p.m. Lightfoot tells the Sun-Times: ‘When we’re closing schools, that means we’ve failed’

Fran Spielman sat down with Mayor Lori Lightfoot on day 2 of the Chicago teachers strike.

Hear her full interview, ranging from teacher contracts to property taxes to how this administration’s moves will differ from Rahm Emanuel’s, here:

Subscribe to ‘The Fran Spielman Show’ wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Follow Fran Spielman’s coverage of her conversation with Lightfoot here.

11:42 a.m. ‘Smaller class sizes NOT donuts’

Teachers protesting outside Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s house Friday morning were greeted by a table with coffee and treats arranged by her staff and a note that said “I hear you.” Striking teachers left a reply for the mayor:

Meanwhile, Lightfoot reiterated Friday she has no plans to extend the school year to make up for any days lost to the teachers strike.

That’s a hard-line position that would mean striking teachers would not be made whole for pay they lose while on the picket lines. In the past, compensation for strike days was almost always part of the settlement.

“It’s a bigger issue than just teacher pay,” the mayor said.

“My understanding from when the strike wore on in ’12, they extended the school year deep into June. That caused significant challenges for students trying to get financial aid together, trying to get final packages for admission to college. There were a lot on unintended consequences that flowed .... That’s something we obviously want to avoid.”

Lightfoot said the strike is already causing a hardship on students seeking early admission to college who need letters of recommendation from striking teachers and certified transcripts.

— Fran Spielman

11:13 a.m. Teacher says she has so many students ‘it’s a fire hazard’

Reggaeton music blasted from speakers on the corner of Grand Avenue and Long Avenue early Friday morning as teachers called for cars to honk their horns in solidarity on the second day of protests.

Teachers and school staff waved signs demanding more nurses and social workers, while others huddled in conversation.

Heidi Dolcimascolo, a U.S. History teacher at Prosser Career Academy, said her toes were frozen because the frigid morning temperatures. But she remained undeterred in calling for a smaller classroom sizes.

(Left to right) Kassandra Tsitsopoulos, Lisa Lemoine and Heidi Dolcimascolo, teachers at Prosser Career Academy, on the picket line Friday, Oct. 18.

Heidi Dolcimascolo, far right, a U.S. History teacher at Prosser Career Academy, with two other teachers on the picket line Friday, Oct. 18.

Manny Ramos/Sun-Times

“I have a classroom of 33 kids and it’s in an extremely small room,” said Dolcimascolo. “It’s not only a fire hazard in that room, because of all the students, but I also can’t get around to every kid.”

She said the need to “put in writing” a maximum class size of 28 is necessary for not only the teachers’ benefit, but for the students’ education.

“We don’t even have enough desks for some of our classes,” Dolcimascolo said. “We have to scatter to neighboring classrooms to borrow desks, then return them when class is over.”

“What kind of message does that send to our students that we don’t even have a desk for you?”

Another side effect of overcrowding is her inability to dedicate time to each student’s educational experience, Dolcimascolo said.

“I’m being pulled everywhere it seems, and with it goes my attention, sadly,” she said.

Manny Ramos

10:24 a.m. CPS sends a message

On the second day of a teacher’s strike that has 300,000 Chicago Public Schools students out of classes, the city’s attorney accused the Chicago Teachers Union officers of a lack of urgency around bargaining.

“URGENT MESSAGE RE: SCHEDULING,” began attorney Jim Franczek’s message to Jesse Sharkey and Stacy Davis Gates (whose first name he misspelled in the email). “Given the urgency of having over 300,000 students not receiving the quality education they deserve, we hereby respectfully request that we negotiate at least 10 hours per day bargaining today and for each day thereafter, including this weekend, until a tentative agreement is reached.”

Click here to see a who’s-who of key figures in CTU contract negotiations.

IMG_20191018_090249.jpg

Sharkey and Davis Gates plan to attend an Illinois Federation of Teachers conference held in Rosemont this weekend, with Sharkey confirming Friday morning they’ll leave the bargaining table Saturday morning, leaving the rest of the team in place.

The battle for the city’s hearts and minds is in full swing and will only intensify the longer the strike continues.

Read the full story about the school district’s plea for more bargaining time here.

Lauren FitzPatrick

9:06 a.m. ‘There is no more money. Period.’

At a press conference, Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke about last night’s contract talks between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union.

“We weren’t really at the table that long yesterday unfortunately,” Lightfoot said, remarking that negotiations should be happening for at least 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends, and that CTU President Jesse Sharkey and CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates need to be at the table.

“The ball’s in their court,” Lightfoot said. “We put a fulsome, comprehensive offer on the table and as I’ve said now for many weeks, they need to respond in time with a comprehensive counter offer.”

Read the latest on where things stand in contract negotiations here.

“Strikes happen,” said Lightfoot, citing her childhood with “a father that was a steel worker.”

As for her forecast of where the teacher contract may end up as the union continues to press on the issues of class size and staffing of nurses, librarians and social workers, she emphasized that “There is no more money. Period.”

Alice Bazerghi

8:30 a.m. Mayor Lightfoot, first lady, help serve breakfast at contingency site

CPSSTRIKE_101919_04.jpg

Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoons Cheerios into a bowl at Gads Hill Community Center.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and wife Amy Eshleman visited with children having breakfast at the Gads Hill Community Center, a contingency site, this morning.

Lightfoot and Eshleman introduced themselves and handed out bowls of Cheerios and Corn Flakes, oranges and bananas to kids affected by the second day of the strike.

Alice Bazerghi

7:10 a.m. SEIU Local 73 strike resumes

Also back on the picket line Friday morning: SEIU Local 73, the union representing 7,500 special education and other support staffers.

SEIU seeks better pay and benefits for its classroom aides, who are also objecting to being pulled away from children in their care to fill other gaps at schools.  

This strike marks the first time in history that the union representing special education and other support staffers joined teachers on the picket line.

Special ed staffing levels have emerged as one of the stickiest points of contention that led to this teacher strike. Special education students could have the most to gain from the strike’s resolution if the unions get what they want.

Read more about how SEIU Local 73 fits into the teacher strike from Lauren FitzPatrick.

6:18 a.m. Chicago Teachers Union strike resumes

The Chicago Teachers Union is on strike again Friday after failing to reach a deal with Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot Thursday afternoon. Teachers are expected to be picketing at their schools starting around 6:30 a.m. today.

Both sides said small steps were taken as negotiations continued through Thursday evening and included an appearance by the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. But a deal remained elusive as parents of about 300,000 students learned they would again need to find alternative child care for their children.

At the table, the school district proposed a new written offer on class size, one of the CTU’s key concerns. But it didn’t include the harder caps that the union wanted, and its proposal to spend $9 million to ensure class size limits are not exceeded was not enough, union officials said.

The CTU put forward a new framework for staffing demands that includes a minimum number of nurses, librarians, social workers and counselors that the district would need to hire. The union said it’s willing to phase in those positions over the term of the deal by starting at schools with high numbers of low-income students, but it said it received no substantive response.

Right before the two sides split for the night, the city said it had a new proposal on meeting special education needs but would wait until the morning to present it, since CTU leadership had left.

Nader Issa

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