Saturday Strong
Thank you for your steadfastness and strength during what has been an intense and sometimes difficult week. Your solidarity is working, and it’s especially important during these times when we must rely on one another to secure justice. In the words of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass: “Without struggle, there is no progress.”
CTU officers and staff, joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., held a press conference at CTU HQ (watch the officer press conference now) in which we outlined our new comprehensive proposal to CPS. We also released a letter signed by 27 state senators and representatives calling on the mayor to address the CTU’s legitimate concerns. The mayor is in a corner as she struggles to respond to recent news that her office failed to take Gov. Pritzker up on the offer to provide CPS with additional testing and PPE supplies.
Still, within a matter of minutes of the press conference ending, the mayor rejected compromise, tweeting, “We will not relent.”
This is hardly surprising. We did not issue our proposal publicly because we expected that she would just say yes. We issued it because we know that the public is on our side and that publicly announcing our position will further isolate the mayor and demonstrate our willingness to bargain.
Our union is in a position of strength, and as we know, the mayor insists she won’t budge — right up until she does. Right now, she’s talking tough but with little leverage, particularly when so many see what we’re offering as a reasonable package of compromises to secure in-person schooling *and* more safety for students, families, educators, and communities.
We remain committed to getting an agreement, and we’ve been continuously at the bargaining table (or waiting on the mayor’s team at CPS) since Thursday.
Tell Your Alder to Call the Mayor
We need to continue escalating our pressure on the mayor. Call your alderperson today and ask them to call the mayor and accept the CTU’s offer. It’s vital that we make these calls this weekend. Your calls to elected officials help move the mayor. Do it today using this city council lookup.
Informational Resources
We held an all-member webinar to update educators citywide and educate everyone about our new comprehensive proposal. Below are materials that will explain the proposal and our current situation in this fight for safety.
