The Chicago Teachers Union announced Monday that 96.5 percent of those casting ballots last week voted to back the strike. With nearly 92 percent of members voting, that means about 88 percent of all members support a strike should ongoing contract negotiations fail, according to CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey, who described the results as “overwhelming.”
That’s a shade lower than in 2012 when 89.7 percent of all CTU members voted to strike before walking out for seven school days.
“Rahm Emanuel really does not need a teachers strike,” Sharkey said at a news conference to announce the results. “And what we’re telling him is if he doesn’t listen to us, that’s what he’ll get.”
But at this point in the proceedings, the 27,000 CTU members won’t likely walk off the job any sooner than May. That’s because state law requires one more time-consuming step for teachers and other school workers before they can legally strike, and getting to that step awaits a hearing on Jan. 21, 2016.
Sharkey chalked up the strong returns to continued cuts to public schools — and threats of even more from the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools in February. Short $480 million in its current operating budget, CPS is looking to Springfield to fill that gap, or has said it’ll make up the difference with thousands of layoffs plus borrowing.
“I’m happy to join with the mayor and the CEO for the schools to go to Springfield to advocate for real revenue,” Sharkey said. “What they’re advocating for currently isn’t real revenue. It’s basically borrowing against the pension fund with no ability of paying it back.”
He said members don’t want to walk picket lines but will if they have to.
“We’re not going to take it lying down that there are just these big cuts, and we’re not going to treat it like a fait accompli that the only way they can do this is cutting,” Sharkey said. “Our members will not go to work if we have to, be in the streets of the city of Chicago to demand justice for our schools.”
State law requires that at least 75 percent of Chicago Teachers Union members approve a strike during a vote they took over three days last week. The group of 27,000 has now positioned itself to legally walk off the job, but only after both sides agree to consult a fact-finder in a process that takes about 105 days.
CTU has already asked to go to that step, saying they’ve been in negotiations since November 2014 and using a mediator for more than three months. Last month, the union filed a grievance with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board asking to start fact-finding promptly. A hearing has been set for Jan. 21