and read it together.
“None of us planned in advance to comb through it collectively,” Barnes says. “We were going to just go over highlights,” Barnes remembers, “but then someone said, ‘No—we need to read the entire contract.’ ”
So, sitting together at a park, they read through every line, debating the victories and concessions hashed out at the bargaining table.
“It was very emotional,” says Barnes. “Some people were sick of striking. Others said, ‘This isn’t good enough. This one line is reason enough for me to stay out.’ ”
Similar scenes took place throughout Chicago. For the first time, teachers were studying every word of their contract, the principal document governing their work lives.
“We were genuinely interested in what each other had to say—even the people who wanted to go back,” Barnes says. The union voted to ratify the contract October 3, with 79 percent of membership in favor.
The union’s decision to extend the strike by two days can be traced in part to practical concerns by the leadership. The membership has a history of punishing leaders who tried to force contracts upon them. For example, there was the time in 2003 when former president and reformer Debbie Lynch lost her reelection bid, having told members that her contract had not just brought home “the bacon” but “the whole hog.” And again, there was the angry impromptu rally in 2007, in which some CORE members participated, where members burned copies of the proposed contract. These memories undoubtedly weighed heavily on Karen Lewis and other leaders’ minds.
But there was also a clear concern for democratic process that is incredibly rare among American unions—particularly in a situation like contract negotiations, which are almost always seen as battles between union leaders and management negotiators in which the general membership has little part. The strike’s extension showed that rank-and-file teachers were firmly in control of the union.
9 Mary Schmich, “Mayor’s Home Turf Is Fair Game for Protesters,”
Chicago Tribune
, February 22, 2012.
10 In practice, Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) has robbed public institutions like schools of hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding by giving those funds away to wealthy corporations. TIF is one of the key economic development programs in the city; it has been widely criticized as a slush fund for the current and former mayors of Chicago, who have doled out much of the funds (at least $1.7 billion in 2013) to wealthy corporations. See Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke, “The Shadow Budget,”
Chicago Reader
, October 22, 2009.
11 The talk can be found on YouTube. Edelman clearly did not think his talk would go far beyond the conference participants in the room, laughingly saying that he did not think his comments would get back to CTU President Karen Lewis. The video was initially picked up by Chicago education blogger and former Chicago-area teachers union president Fred Klonsky.
12 Norine Gutekanst, “How Chicago Teachers Got Organized to Strike,”
Labor Notes
, December 2012.
13 Lorraine Forte, “For the Record: Details on the Fact-Finder’s Report,”
Catalyst Chicago
, July 19, 2012, catalyst-chicago.org .
14 Later, several such aldermen—clearly jarred by the swift organizing against them—would change their tune, signing onto letters demanding a moratorium on school closures and supporting other union-backed proposals. The teachers’ willingness to confront the Democratic city council members directly paid off.
15 Kara Spak and Fran Spielman, “47% of Chicago Voters Back Teachers,”
Chicago Sun-Times
, September 11, 2012. Second poll data from independent polling organization We Ask America, “As Chicago Teachers Strike Enters Fourth Day, a New Poll Proves Majority of Parents and Taxpayers Approve of Fair Contract Fight,”
Chicago Teachers Union
, September 13, 2012, ctunet.com .
3
THE FUTURE
On the chilly
“None of us planned in advance to comb through it collectively,” Barnes says. “We were going to just go over highlights,” Barnes remembers, “but then someone said, ‘No—we need to read the entire contract.’ ”
So, sitting together at a park, they read through every line, debating the victories and concessions hashed out at the bargaining table.
“It was very emotional,” says Barnes. “Some people were sick of striking. Others said, ‘This isn’t good enough. This one line is reason enough for me to stay out.’ ”
Similar scenes took place throughout Chicago. For the first time, teachers were studying every word of their contract, the principal document governing their work lives.
“We were genuinely interested in what each other had to say—even the people who wanted to go back,” Barnes says. The union voted to ratify the contract October 3, with 79 percent of membership in favor.
The union’s decision to extend the strike by two days can be traced in part to practical concerns by the leadership. The membership has a history of punishing leaders who tried to force contracts upon them. For example, there was the time in 2003 when former president and reformer Debbie Lynch lost her reelection bid, having told members that her contract had not just brought home “the bacon” but “the whole hog.” And again, there was the angry impromptu rally in 2007, in which some CORE members participated, where members burned copies of the proposed contract. These memories undoubtedly weighed heavily on Karen Lewis and other leaders’ minds.
But there was also a clear concern for democratic process that is incredibly rare among American unions—particularly in a situation like contract negotiations, which are almost always seen as battles between union leaders and management negotiators in which the general membership has little part. The strike’s extension showed that rank-and-file teachers were firmly in control of the union.
9 Mary Schmich, “Mayor’s Home Turf Is Fair Game for Protesters,”
Chicago Tribune
, February 22, 2012.
10 In practice, Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) has robbed public institutions like schools of hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding by giving those funds away to wealthy corporations. TIF is one of the key economic development programs in the city; it has been widely criticized as a slush fund for the current and former mayors of Chicago, who have doled out much of the funds (at least $1.7 billion in 2013) to wealthy corporations. See Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke, “The Shadow Budget,”
Chicago Reader
, October 22, 2009.
11 The talk can be found on YouTube. Edelman clearly did not think his talk would go far beyond the conference participants in the room, laughingly saying that he did not think his comments would get back to CTU President Karen Lewis. The video was initially picked up by Chicago education blogger and former Chicago-area teachers union president Fred Klonsky.
12 Norine Gutekanst, “How Chicago Teachers Got Organized to Strike,”
Labor Notes
, December 2012.
13 Lorraine Forte, “For the Record: Details on the Fact-Finder’s Report,”
Catalyst Chicago
, July 19, 2012, catalyst-chicago.org .
14 Later, several such aldermen—clearly jarred by the swift organizing against them—would change their tune, signing onto letters demanding a moratorium on school closures and supporting other union-backed proposals. The teachers’ willingness to confront the Democratic city council members directly paid off.
15 Kara Spak and Fran Spielman, “47% of Chicago Voters Back Teachers,”
Chicago Sun-Times
, September 11, 2012. Second poll data from independent polling organization We Ask America, “As Chicago Teachers Strike Enters Fourth Day, a New Poll Proves Majority of Parents and Taxpayers Approve of Fair Contract Fight,”
Chicago Teachers Union
, September 13, 2012, ctunet.com .
3
THE FUTURE
On the chilly
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