City Colleges reach deal with faculty, staff union to avert strike

Faculty and professional staff at the City Colleges of Chicago have reached a tentative agreement on a new union contract and called off their planned strike later this week.

The workers represented by the Cook County Colleges Teachers Union had been in negotiations with City Colleges administrators for more than a year over pay, class sizes and other educational supports. A strike was planned for Wednesday.

“We’re so happy to announce that our union bargaining team was able to secure a tentative agreement last night and avert a strike,” City Colleges teachers union President Tony Johnston said in a statement Monday.

City Colleges spokeswoman Veronica Resa said the deal “ensures our students receive a high-quality educational experience and recognizes the hard work of our faculty and staff.”

Classes will proceed this week as normal for the campuses’ 54,000 students, she said.

The four-year agreement has “fair salary increases that recognize current economic conditions,” smaller class sizes and a “plan to assess student and community needs and provide wraparound services,” Johnston said.

The nearly 1,500 union members at the seven City Colleges campuses — including professors, college advisers, tutors, note-takers, laboratory technicians and IT personnel — are expected to vote on the tentative agreement in the next few weeks.

“We’ll be sharing details of the agreement with our members in the days ahead, and we’re confident they’ll agree that we’ve secured the additional supports we have been fighting for on behalf of Chicago’s most marginalized students and communities,” Johnston said.

Negotiations began in October 2021 and reached a boiling point this month when the union authorized a strike with 92% member approval. Some members picketed outside Harold Washington College before the City Colleges board meeting this month.

The union considered walking out in 2020 over coronavirus concerns, and a few months later overwhelmingly endorsed a no-confidence vote in the administration. City Colleges educators last authorized a strike in early 2019 when those negotiations stalled, only to find an agreement a few days before walking out. Their last strike came in 2004, when they eventually agreed to 14% raises over four years after a three-week walkout.

About 450 City Colleges clerical and technical staff represented by a different union went on strike in 2019 for pay raises.