CTU strike bits and pieces
Friday, Oct 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Did Tribune photographer Abel Uribe capture this year’s version of the “Rahm Emanuel likes Nickelback” CTU strike sign? Judge for yourself…
Hilarious.
…Adding… With a hat tip to Chicago Bars, here’s the answer from a candidates debate…
Marin also asked the candidates if they drink Malort, a booze that’s popular with some millennials and hipsters. None of the candidates stood up for the liquor.
“Only under duress,” Lightfoot said. “That is the worst-tasting alcohol ever.”
* Meanwhile…
Sources said the two sides met for a few hours and broke for a CTU rally. The mayor’s frustrated forces were also told CTU President Jesse Sharkey had a dinner to attend and union officials had a conference this weekend.
As subscribers know, that conference would be the Illinois Federation of Teachers convention in Rosemont, which starts today.
But…
“I’m concerned that there’s not a sense of urgency to get a deal done,” Lightfoot said Thursday in a joint interview with CPS CEO Janice Jackson on “Chicago Tonight.” Lightfoot said CTU cut short bargaining Thursday morning after about three hours.
Responding on “Chicago Tonight,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey strongly refuted that claim and others.
“I lost track of the falsehoods,” Sharkey said about Lightfoot and Jackson’s interview. “It’s riddled with things that are not true.”
Sharkey says he spent all day at the negotiating table until he left for a rally, and even then, the CTU had its “entire rank and file negotiating team working on proposals. We had our lawyers there trading proposals back and forth,” he said. “We put in a hard day at the table.”
* Politico…
While thousands of Chicago Public Schools teachers took to the streets Thursday to strike for a contract that meets their demands, negotiators from both sides of the table tell Playbook they’ve made progress on one important issue — class size.
CPS has agreed to identify “schools in crisis in class-size needs,” according to a source within the Chicago Teachers Union. The school district also called for a joint CPS-CTU committee that would identify class size numbers regularly — maybe monthly — in schools with a greater need. On the table is about $9 million to cover such an effort, “a drop in the drop of the bucket” of CPS’ proposed $7.7 billion budget, the source said. “It’s the beginning of a discussion… It’s huge.”
But this is from the Sun-Times…
Both sides said small steps were taken as negotiations continued through Thursday evening
* Nice touch…
But a clever riposte…
* More thundering from the man who yells at clouds…
No matter how this strike ends, and it will, eventually, the Illinois political class should read another book to the people of Chicago, its suburbs and the rest of the state:
“The Road to Serfdom,” by F.A. Hayek, about free people losing liberty to authoritarian control.
And just who are the serfs in Illinois?
The property taxpayers, who are the serfs of the new Democratic machine. Because we serfs live to serve the masters, don’t we?
* This same lone teacher crossed the one-day CTU picket line in 2016, so I’m thinking he probably wasn’t too difficult to locate. Just sayin…
* Keep up with the strike news today via these posts…
* Sun-Times Live Updates
* Tribune Live Updates
- Bad Politician - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:38 am:
The current offer will pay teachers an average salary of $97,000 by the end of the contract. Second year teachers will be paid $72,000.
The CTU has overplayed its hand.
- A Watcher - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:39 am:
Seriously who does like Malort?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:40 am:
===Seriously who does like Malort? ===
Paging Scott Kennedy and @ChicagoBars (exclamation point)
- Boone's is Back - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:41 am:
===More thundering from the man who yells at clouds…===
LOL
- Anon For Now - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:45 am:
===Seriously who does like Malort? ===
But how else would I politely encourage out-of-town guests to leave?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:47 am:
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:48 am:
Here’s my take on the donuts;
Yeah, it’s a nine move.
The note seems like passive trolling.
If Lightfoot wanted to hear the protesters, she coulda went out and handed out donuts herself. Lightfoot choose not to do that.
The Lightfoot Crew screws up a nice gesture by a passively trolling note, that I’m guessing went over the head(s) of seemingly oblivious political acumen.
- Amalia - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:48 am:
But she does like donuts. I’m for donuts.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:50 am:
As an aside;
If you’re not checking out @chicagobars and @ScottTKennedy on twitter for your Chicago/Illinois political fix, you are doing twitter wrong.
- Ok - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:51 am:
That bottle has been there since 2006
- City Zen - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:51 am:
I do enjoy clever strike signs.
I saw somewhere on the South Side yesterday a number of establishments closed their bathroom doors to strikers. Not a good look.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:53 am:
Kass gives a new meaning to arguing like a child (h/t Rich). But it seems phony, or Kass and Hurricane would have left Illinois and Chicago a long time ago—unless maybe they’re masochists and love stewing in their self-inflicted pain.
- Anon For Now - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:53 am:
-OW-
Agree to a point, could have been a better note. Though if the Mayor was handing out donuts, we’d be talking about her not negotiating and pandering to teachers–or whatever verbal slip would come out of it. The time for those types of gestures starts the day after the strike is over.
- @misterjayem - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:56 am:
1) The CTU addressed the lack of ‘urgency’ talking points on twitter
https://twitter.com/CTULocal1/status/1185168089450725377
2) A fellow Hideout patron once explained the appeal of Malort as follows: “It lets your mouth know who’s running the #@$%*& show around here.”
– MrJM
- VoteQuimby - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:57 am:
Question for the thread… Prediction on how long this lasts?
- ChicagoBars - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:58 am:
To quote former Governor Pat Quinn after I succesfully foisted a Malort shot on him at a teacher fundraiser party a few years ago (after explaining the stuff’s Swedish roots): “That’s a very interesting ethnic beverage”
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:58 am:
=== Though if the Mayor was handing out donuts, we’d be talking about her not negotiating and pandering to teachers–or whatever verbal slip would come out of it===
That’s the thing with Lightfoot, isn’t it?
She apparently isn’t savvy enough to make a political gesture seem genuine, even if it’s a “tad” pandering, and Lightfoot is a loose sound bite without a script, not unlike Bruce Rauner in both accounts.
They coulda done a quick handout of donuts, less cameras, then accidentally leak the story if the teachers don’t leak it first.
The note, only to me, seems like passive trolling, the donuts, while thoughtful, could be seen attached to the note as a mocking.
- Ok - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 11:59 am:
I think CTU has been telling its members that they won’t lose pay for these days.
Sounds pretty certain that the district is not paying.
At some point, that will tip it.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:07 pm:
Malort taste like drinking a liquefied cigarette.
I can’t shake the impression that CTU was always going to strike no matter what offer they received. This seems more like a “we don’t like Lori Lightfoot” difference than a “Rahm is going to name Bruce Rauner head of CPS” difference.
- Ano - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:09 pm:
When people make mention of salaries paid to teachers and paint them as outrageous (or at least too much for the responsibilities of chilrens’ futures), I chuckle at how out of touch they are with current college grads, starting out in Chicago. Having some in my family, I know that teachers are not earning too much. Before speaking to this matter, do some comparative learning.
- The Big Salad - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:11 pm:
Good on Mr. Ocol. I feel sorry for all the other teachers who want to follow Mr. Ocol but fear the machine-like repercussions.
Hopefully his students can take this opportunity to look at him, to look at all the others, and draw a instructive contrast.
- Red Ranger - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:12 pm:
Its easy to make fun of Kass, hes a target rich environment. But he is a voice of a chunk of over-taxed and mediocre serviced suburban residents. He channels their voice well. His “yelling at clouds” is no more ridiculous than the “lets tax LaSalle St” or lets tax the suburbanites that work in the city crowd.
- @misterjayem - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:16 pm:
“Hopefully his students can take this opportunity to look at him, to look at all the others, and draw a instructive contrast.”
I hope they do — and I trust that they will learn a lesson much different from the one you’re hoping for.
– MrJM
- The Captain - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:18 pm:
=== Malort taste like drinking a liquefied cigarette. ===
Fernet tastes like a menthol ashtray, if someone offers you Fernet know what you’re getting yourself into. I like it, but I’m weird. Malort is an entirely different flavor altogether.
- Thomas Paine - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:20 pm:
The strike will end whenever it ends.
Maybe on Monday, maybe in two weeks, maybe in two months, maybe longer.
As Admiral James Stockdale, the longest serving American POW said of Vietnam, it is best not to be an Optimist about these things. Optimists start to crumble when their expectations are not met. It’s best to be a realist but never lose faith.
The reality is that much like Rauner’s budget impasse, the CTU has no control over when the strike ends. It will end when Lightfoot wants it to end, which will be whenever Chicago’s business leaders tell her it is time to end it, not before.
But that day will come some day. That is the faith part.
- ChrisInCHI - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:25 pm:
Re: “I can’t shake the impression that CTU was always going to strike no matter what offer they received. This seems more like a “we don’t like Lori Lightfoot” difference than a “Rahm is going to name Bruce Rauner head of CPS” difference.”
I’m not sure it’s so much anti-Lightfoot directly as it is a move to try to claw back some political power after taking a very public L in the spring. Lightfoot’s been pretty vocal about basing her mayorship on trying to keep the city’s fiscal house in order and that’s not good for getting more $ to flow to CPS if she stays popular.
Either way, they’ll come to a deal that will cost some more cash and then we’ll see CTU’s backers shout “she’s raising your property taxes just like Rahm!” when it’s time to pay for them.
- Maximus - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:26 pm:
Does CTU have a strike fund? It looks like the teachers will get a normal paycheck on October 25th and then… nothing? This strike may not last long after all.
- Louis G Atsaves - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:29 pm:
Love the doughnuts and the note. Great touch. Great message attached to them. This union overplayed its hand. Dinners and conferences more important than negotiating a contract? Uh, huh. Call me unconvinced.
- dying HDO - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:33 pm:
she’s not supposed to like malort
- The Big Salad - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:35 pm:
Parents must feel good to see their children’s teacher not doing his job and instead contributing by making Very Chicago signs to get the yuks.
Though, is it really that harmful when school children are abandoned by another child?
- Just Me - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:38 pm:
A teacher friend of mine was complaining that the Mayor canceled Thursday classes before the union had a chance to formally vote on the strike, and that it was a “sick power move.” I pointed out to him that maybe the Mayor canceled classes because (a) she knew the CTU was going to strike later that night, and (b) parents all over the City were stressing about the uncertainty of the next day.
He told me the Mayor doesn’t care about that and she was looking to intimidate the union. I gave up.
- Bad Politician - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:39 pm:
The CTU is not allowed to strike over class size, affordabke housing, etc.
Bring in the courts, Lori.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:39 pm:
=== Parents must feel good to see their children’s teacher not doing his job and instead contributing by making Very Chicago signs to get the yuks.===
Narrator: Polling shows voters support teachers 49-38 in this endeavor.
- CCrider - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:39 pm:
So Kass is crazy? No counter-argument should be given to extreme pay raises, raises contributing toward future pension debt?
By the way, how much does a Chicago Police officer or Firefighter make?
prespective, most comments on here are from government workers and that’s ok, but they also are on government contracts/pensions, same government unions…birds of a feather.
Rich I assume this post won’t go through or remain up very long
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:41 pm:
=== prespective, most comments on here are from government workers and that’s ok, but they also are on government contracts/pensions, same government unions…birds of a feather.===
Explain favorable polling for the teachers.
Thanks.
- Ron Burgundy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:44 pm:
They could have been civil during the campaign and laid better ground to get a deal done, but instead the union went all in on Toni who got crushed. So here we are.
Reminds me of that oft repeated maxim here, Elections Have… What’s that word? Oh yeah, Consequences.
- Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:50 pm:
explain favorable polling for teachers
87% of CPS students come from low income families
students are 47% hisoanic, 37% african american, 10% what
Do you think poor people are worried about increasing property taxes needed to pay CTU?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:52 pm:
LP, lots of poor people own their homes and many of the rest pay property taxes through rent.
But thanks for showing your true colors. Poor people should be ignored. Nice one.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:55 pm:
=== Do you think poor people are worried about increasing property taxes needed to pay CTU?===
#ClassWarfare
“Only land owners matter”
- 18th Century White Male Land Owner
- @misterjayem - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:58 pm:
“most comments on here are from government workers and that’s ok, but they also are on government contracts/pensions, same government unions…”
I’m not a member of a union. Never have been.
Neither is MrsJM, for that matter.
But there sure have been times when I’ve wished we were.
– MrJM
- Blue Dog Dem - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 12:59 pm:
The one thing i am certain of. Affordable housing and high property taxes rarely go hand in hand.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:00 pm:
“So Kass is crazy? No counter-argument should be given to extreme pay raises, raises contributing toward future pension debt?”
It’s not a counterargument, it’s engaging in childish hyperbole—Chicken Little argument. How long has Kass been engaging in such arguments, and how hurt has he personally been, living in Illinois and having a prominent job all these years?
Of course Hurricane would focus on a scab. She revealed her true sentiments before, hence name Hurricane and other like nicknames.
- @misterjayem - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:05 pm:
“students are 47% hisoanic [sic], 37% african american [sic], 10% what [sic]”
If my teachers had failed me that badly, I’d be bitter too.
– MrJM
- Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:09 pm:
I missed the part where I said poor people should be ignored Rich
it is a simple fact that poor people primary concern is not taxes, it is about taxpayer funded programs
Maybe you missed the part where the progressives are asking the wealthy to pay their fair share
- Bertrum Cates - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:26 pm:
= “The Road to Serfdom,” by F.A. Hayek, about free people losing liberty to authoritarian control. =
Looks like the man of the people discovered the audiobooks section just before his big move.
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:26 pm:
==LP, lots of poor people own their homes and many of the rest pay property taxes through rent.
But thanks for showing your true colors. Poor people should be ignored. Nice one. ==
==#ClassWarfare==
You are being much too kind to LP’s racist comment.
To the post (and LP’s comment):
The families understand that the teachers are fighting for better conditions in the schools. What is the message sent to students when the school is not clean and there is no school nurse? The message is “You aren’t important and education isn’t important.” The CTU has been working for years to get CPS and the city to take this seriously. If it was really about pay, there would not have been a strike. Students cannot learn in the environment present in many schools, and teachers want their students to be able to learn.
- consmom - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:32 pm:
The narrative is that the strike is about class size, school nurses and counselors (not pay). I’m 100% for smaller classes, nurses and counselors, and I’d bet most people are. So why won’t any reporter ask the CTU, if you get all of your demands on the non-salary related issues, will you accept the contract? I’d love to see that question asked and what answer would be given. They would squirm, of course, because, in the end, we all know it’s about salary.
- Honeybear - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:33 pm:
Okay Kass, I see your Road to Serfdom and raise you Democracy in Chains, a book about how big business interests lead by quack economic theories have been subverting democracy for decades in the disguise of liberty.
- City Zen - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:34 pm:
==Explain favorable polling for the teachers.==
Their opponent is CPS.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 1:37 pm:
=== Their opponent is CPS.===
No. Explain why folks are at a 49-38 clip supporting CTU?
You think it’s “the lesser of two evils”
Go with that.
- JoanP - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:14 pm:
=most comments on here are from government workers=
And you know this how? Where’s your evidence?
- Honeybear - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:17 pm:
“LP, lots of poor people own their homes”
Rich you are exactly correct. Here in East St.Louis the vast majority of single family homes are owned outright by the senior generation of the family. Property taxes are a huge concern for these folks. These homes are the anchor for the whole extended family system. Folks are in and out of the homes regularly. But that’s if they’re stable. When they lose that “paid for” home the entire extended family can spiral. Without affordable housing it will crash. CTU is absolutely on it correctly in my opinion as someone who works on and with systems of poverty every day.
- City Zen - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:18 pm:
==Does CTU have a strike fund?==
No.
==It looks like the teachers will get a normal paycheck on October 25th and then… nothing? This strike may not last long after all.==
Assuming teachers will work these strike days later in the year, it’s merely a paycheck deferral.
- Just Me - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:21 pm:
While LP’s comments are disgusting, it is worth noting that many renters don’t think about the impact property taxes has on their rent.
Many of the same liberal advocates who advocate for more tax spending and don’t mind higher taxes to pay for that, are the same advocates clamoring for rent control.
- Lucky Pierre - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:32 pm:
LP’s comments are disgusting but I agree with him
LOL
- Cheryl44 - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:39 pm:
1. As a renter I understand I’m paying the property tax *and* the water and gas bills as part of my rent.
2. I had no idea so many people think teachers should be so thrilled with their jobs they should be paying to work in the schools instead of the other way around.
- @misterjayem - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:41 pm:
“They would squirm, of course, because, in the end, we all know it’s about salary.”
The Appeal to Common Belief — argumentum ad populum — is a logical fallacy of relevance where the claim that most or many people accept a belief as true is presented as evidence for the truth of the belief. Even if the assertion about the common belief is true, such arguments are fallacious and cannot serve as a substitute for real facts.
For example, until the late 16th century, most humans believed that the Sun orbited the Earth. Even though the belief was nearly universal, that did not — could not — change the fact that ours is a Heliocentric solar system.
Facts are stubbornly unpersuaded by popular opinion.
In addition to its logical flaws, the claim about the popularity of the belief about salary quoted above is wholly unsupported by facts or data.
In conclusion:
1) We don’t all “know” that which is claimed in the quote, i.e. we don’t all believe it’s all about salary, and
2) even if we did, that belief would be completely irrelevant with regard to the truth of the underlying claim, i.e. we still wouldn’t know one way or the other whether it’s all about salary.
– MrJM
- Anyone Remember - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:49 pm:
Mr. Kass:
Thank you for revealing how out of touch your views are. Friedrich Hayek belonged to the Austrian School of Economics. You know, those people who say Milton Friedman / the Chicago School of Economics are flaming liberals, and the first socialist US President was Calvin Coolidge (for signing the Flood Control Act of 1928). According to the Austrians, the private sector will provide levees, locks, dams, etc. We’ll keep that in mind next time you offer an opinion.
- NIref - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 2:56 pm:
Is it really crossing the picket line if a teacher reaches out to their students? Would a “teach-in” of sorts be against strike rules? I’m a former union member, and have always thought that strikes should involve some sort of civic betterment as a means of showing the power of organization.
- Demoralized - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 3:52 pm:
==it is a simple fact that poor people primary concern is not taxes, it is about taxpayer funded programs==
You stuck your foot in your mouth twice now Lucky. Would you like to try for a third time or are you satisfied with dissing the poor twice?
If I were you I’d keep it at twice. No need to make yourself look any more ridiculous.
- Demoralized - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 3:53 pm:
==LP’s comments are disgusting==
Agreed.
- KJLewis - Friday, Oct 18, 19 @ 4:17 pm:
The teachers are a bit concerned as it looks like Sharkey is not really interested in bargaing. He seems more focused on making a statement and flexing his power.