Union sees 34 out of 34 victories for the night, with rank and file members pushing hard for signatures for Brandon Johnson, as voters embrace CTU values and platform on election day.
CHICAGO, November 9, 2022 — Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates issued the following statement in wake of sweeping victories of CTU-endorsed candidates in the November 8 general election:
“Our team of bold leaders organized and led a truly inspiring election day operation for hugely high-stakes races for our union, with workers’ rights, legislative champions, and supportive constitutional officers all on the ballot. The outcomes of those races have profound impacts on our schools and neighborhoods. Reactionaries and charlatans like the Illinois Policy Institute, Dan Proft and right-wing billionaire Dick Uhlein will continue to try to tear us down. But yesterday again showed us that organizing around our values and fighting back has clear benefits: we win.”
“This election day also provided a valuable structure test for our 2023 campaigns for Brandon Johnson for mayor and for CTU-endorsed city council candidates and rank and file members Lori Torres and Mueze Bawany. The energy for our candidates and our platform at every single polling place — from Chatham, Kenwood, Bronzeville, and Brighton Park to West Garfield Park, Austin, Archer Heights, Humboldt Park and West Ridge — was deeply moving.
“We are a movement of people who believe and organize for the many – and we saw the impact of that movement yesterday when the #TreatmentNotTrauma initiative overwhelmingly won in the three wards the referendum was on the ballot. That’s a clear rejection of Mayor Lightfoot’s leadership failures – and a clear embrace of the progressive alternatives to the mayor’s failed agenda.
“In this election cycle, we fought against the reactionary right and pushed for what voters care about – from women’s rights and treatment not trauma to the Workers Rights Amendment. Today, our state will continue to be led by a Governor that believes we need more funding for education – not less – with strong majorities in the House and Senate. The Illinois Supreme Court is secure. And, we have two new progressive congresspeople that we call friends: Congresswoman (elect) Delia. Ramirez and Congressman (elect) Jonathan Jackson.
“And, with an overwhelming majority of precincts reporting statewide, multiple media outlets have announced that the people of Illinois have approved the Workers’ Rights Amendment, guaranteeing every Illinois citizen their fundamental rights to organize their workplace and bargain collectively with their coworkers for better pay and safe workplaces.
“We are workers and residents. We are educators and parents. Our neighbors from all over this city are grateful for our leadership and love.
“The CTU endorsed 26 candidates in the State Senate and State House, from the South Suburbs to Lake County. All of those candidates won. Every candidate the CTU endorsed for the Cook County Board won, as did our candidates for US House and statewide offices. That’s 34 out of 34 victories for the night – and while numbers are still coming in, potentially a clean sweep.
“And thanks to our work in building for the municipal elections, the CTU’s very own Brandon Johnson will be on the ballot in February. Brandon’s strong progressive values offer the democratic alternative we need to another four years of a mayor who has broken her promises, ignored the needs of ordinary Chicagoans and failed our students and school communities.
“Be clear, our opposition rejects equity and justice. Our opposition believes starving and closing schools is the way forward. Our opposition remains opposed to democracy and is on a last-ditch effort to destroy our city’s first elected school board even before it is elected. We will not allow that to happen. If our solidarity can keep us alive and safe, it can also power a movement to give all of us — every single resident of Chicago — the justice and equity we were promised and deserve.”
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Check out “The School Chicago Students Deserve 3.0”, bringing our groundbreaking 2012 CTU report into the 21st century, with a focus on COVID-19 pandemic recovery and real equity for hundreds of thousands of neglected working class, Black and Latinx students, families and school communities.
