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Chicago Teachers Union Votes 90% Pro-Strike (Update)

On Monday, 90% of Chicago Teachers Union members voted to support a strike if one is called.

Laura Flanders

June 12, 2012

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 I mentioned a few weeks back that a strike vote might be looming in Chicago. By way of update, on Monday, 90 percent of Chicago Teachers Union members, roughly 23,780 city employees, voted to support a strike if one is called. Although contract talks continue, teachers union chief Karen Lewis called the strike vote not a "win," but rather an “indictment” of the strained relationship between the teachers and Chicago Public Schools officials. 

Hoping to avoid the first teachers strike in Chicago public schools since 1987, the union and school district are meeting with the arbitrator up to four times a week. The earliest that teachers can walk out is Aug. 17, four days after classes begin for some students. Most students begin the new school year Sept. 4.

Laura FlandersTwitterLaura Flanders is the author of several books, the host of the nationally syndicated public television show (and podcast) The Laura Flanders Show and the recipient of a 2019 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship.


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