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The Next Great Chicago Strike

TheDemSocialist

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The Chicago Teachers Union is going on strike on tomorrow. But they aren’t going alone.The union struck in 2012, claiming to fight not just for themselves but for a broad social justice agenda in defense of public schools and all public services. They emerged victorious over Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Public Schools, who wanted to further erode teachers’ power in the schools and institute more free market-friendly reforms. At a time when the labor movement was in dire straits, the win was an inspiration to unionists around the country.
But since then, the union has suffered defeat after defeat: forty-nine school closures, rounds of layoffs, devastating budget cuts. And Illinois’ new Republican governor, private equity mogul Bruce Rauner, has carried out a disastrous agenda of austerity, holding the state budget hostage unless legislators agree to major rollbacks of union rights.
So when teachers’ contract expired this year and they were faced with more austerity demands, they again considered striking. But this time they have joined other unions and community groups in calling for a citywide “general strike” on April 1, demanding not just a strong contract but new, “progressive” sources of revenue — taxing the city’s financial district, for example, and ending the state’s flat income tax — to fund public goods and services throughout Chicago and Illinois. The CTU and the groups allied with them are looking to win not just a moral victory against austerity, but a tangible one.
The strike will only last a day, but it’s the kind of mass political action that rarely seen in American labor history. It’s also one that isn’t without risks; CPS has declared the strike illegal.
To discuss the strike and its implications, I spoke to Sarah Chambers, a special education teacher at Saucedo Elementary, a member of the CTU executive board, and a co-chair of the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators.


Read more @: The Next Great Chicago Strike

Solidarity to all those taking part in the General Strike! :usflag2::usflag2:
 
Oh good... because Chicago needs more financial headache.

(They seem determined to turn Chicago into the next Detroit.)
 
Oh good... because Chicago needs more financial headache.

(They seem determined to turn Chicago into the next Detroit.)

They're causing their own financial headache. Underfunding public schools.
 
Read more @: The Next Great Chicago Strike

Solidarity to all those taking part in the General Strike! :usflag2::usflag2:[/FONT][/COLOR]

I have to say this - If the kids in Chicago schools were doing great and the teachers were amazing we may have something to discuss here. But... the schools suck, the kids are failing, and the teachers are just doing their annual or bi-annual bitch-fest about wanting more.

Unions should not be allowed in public service.
 
I have to say this - If the kids in Chicago schools were doing great and the teachers were amazing we may have something to discuss here. But... the schools suck, the kids are failing, and the teachers are just doing their annual or bi-annual bitch-fest about wanting more.

Unions should not be allowed in public service.

Hmmm.. Damn those unions! :roll:
"Class Sizes Are Among The Largest In The State: Chicago's kindergarten class sizes in particular are larger than 95 percent of classes across the state. Sometimes kids are sitting in classrooms with 40 students for months as the city drags its feet on lowering class sizes. Right outside of Chicago, in the Matteson School District, the average class size is between 16 and 23 for most of a child's education.
Students Lack Access To Arts And Music Education: Instruction in the arts and music is essential to educating gifted and responsible children. But only 25 percent of Chicago public elementary schools have both art and music instructors.
There Is A Severe Lack Of Social Workers And Counselors: Over 15,000 homeless children attend Chicago public schools. Yet there are only 370 social workers for the entire district. You do the math. Each social worker, if dedicated totally to homeless children, would have a caseload of 42 kids. Meanwhile, each school has only one counselor, meaning that schools with up to 1,200 kids have only one adult offering intensive counseling services.
160 Schools Don't Even Have Libraries: Libraries give kids, especially impoverished kids, access to information that they'd never otherwise be able to attain. But CPS is leaving thousands of kids without access to a safe school library.
Chicago Doesn't Even Provide Free Public Transportation For Students: Imagine if your child had to pay extra just to get to school. CPS is one of the few major school systems in the country that does not provide fully subsidized transportation to and from school. One high school was so desperate that it created its own system using discretionary funds to help needy children get to school. This isn't how a 21st century school system should work." 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Terrible State Of Chicago Schools
 
Clearly you dont even know what their demands are.

Clearly you don't understand economics. For 76k they better be able to teach 40 kids, for a 20 kid classroom would they take a 50% pay cut and get paid like what the rest of the country teachers get paid? No.
 
Clearly you don't understand economics. For 76k they better be able to teach 40 kids, for a 20 kid classroom would they take a 50% pay cut and get paid like what the rest of the country teachers get paid? No.

:lamo Clearly you still dont know the reasons for the strike. But hey, keep on upholding the egotistical position you're upholding!
 
:lamo Clearly you still dont know the reasons for the strike. But hey, keep on upholding the egotistical position you're upholding!

Clearly you still don't understand economics, all the problems in the Chicago school system are caused by the unions who for decades extorted exorbitant pay raises. The chickens are coming home to roost.
 
Clearly you still don't understand economics, all the problems in the Chicago school system are caused by the unions who for decades extorted exorbitant pay raises. The chickens are coming home to roost.

Clearly you havent even read their demands or the background and instead just said, "UNIONS! GREEDY UNIONS!"
 
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