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*** UPDATED x1 *** Chicago teachers picket Quinn event

Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

Dozens of striking Chicago teachers are protesting outside a Sept. 11 memorial event where Gov. Pat Quinn is speaking.

The Chicago Democrat hasn’t weighed in on the walkout, which entered its second day on Tuesday.

As he headed into the event, Quinn walked through the crowd, which sang “Amazing Grace” and held American flags. He said “Good luck.”

The teachers marched over from nearby Curie Metro High School on the city’s southwest side.

* I asked Quinn’s office earlier for a comment on the strike…

We want the parties to negotiate in good faith and reach a resolution quickly that puts the students first.

*** UPDATE *** Raw audio of the governor, who said that the protesters expressing themselves “is what liberty is all about, it’s what our country is all about”…

Click to download

Quinn was interrupted briefly during his press conference by a person who was participating in the event. She pointed out that she works for the public school system and supports the striking teachers, and then said, “This memorial is for the fallen. This memorial is to educate our students.”

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*** UPDATED x1 - Did Iowa get suckered? *** 165 jobs go to Iowa instead of here

Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have announced several new plant and corporate headquarter openings and expansions in recent months. But the state lost out to Iowa for a factory that would have employed 165 people. Our neighboring state paid dearly for that fertilizer plant…

The incentives grow to $251 million, with $133 million in property tax abatement that Lee County supervisors agreed to provide the project Wednesday.

That would mean the cost per job is more than $1.5 million

* Illinois actually offered a more generous package, but the offer was turned down in favor of the higher-tax Iowa…

Branstad and others blamed Iowa’s corporate income tax structure for driving higher the incentives Orascom Construction Industries received to bring the plant and its 165 jobs to Iowa.

“Even with (Illinois’) tax increases and poor fiscal management, Iowa had difficulty competing because our tax climate is worse for a project like this with substantial sales to farmers in Iowa,” Branstad said. “If that doesn’t wake us up, I don’t know what will.”

* From the Tribune editorial board…

“The promises we got in Illinois were extremely attractive,” Sawiris noted. But Illinois’ promised benefits, he went on to say, “are not sustainable in our view given the balance sheet of the state of Illinois.”

“Whatever tax regime exists today we have to take with a grain of salt,” Sawiris said. “The unfunded pension liabilities of the state of Illinois were a big concern to us, let alone the hypothetical situations that exist in doing business in Illinois and Chicago.”

That reference to public corruption got a big laugh from the Iowa crowd at the news conference. Gov. Branstad couldn’t resist grabbing away the microphone to point out that in modern times only two previous governors in Illinois were not led away in handcuffs.

“The difference is we have a history of clean, honest government,” Branstad boasted. “They have a history of corruption.”

Discuss.

*** UPDATE *** From an IL DCEO spokesperson…

To be clear—The state never put an offer on the table. We recognized early on that Iowa’s bid was excessive and we were not going to engage in a bidding war…

Representatives of the company started engaging with us very late in the game, and for a transaction of this size, we would have had direct contact with the company itself–that did not occur.

Due to Iowa’s offer, Iowa taxpayers are handing Orascom a very lavish tax incentive while Illinois taxpayers are spared.

The key benefit here is lower anhydrous ammonia prices for farmers in Iowa and Illinois. Our farmers obtain that benefit regardless of where in the Midwest the plant is located.

Illinois continues to be a great place for business, as is shown by the 140,000 private sector jobs that have been created since January 2010. We will continue to aggressively pursue every opportunity to bring more jobs and economic opportunity to the state.

From that statement, it looks like Iowa was stampeded into upping its price when the company made a phony feint toward Illinois. Very clever move. The company gets mega bucks from Iowa and the locals. And then Gov. Branstad gets bragging rights over Illinois. And the Tribune gets its editorial. And Illinois farmers get a better deal on fertilizer. And Iowans pay a very heavy price.

Sheesh.

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*** UPDATED x1 - Emanuel: “Not strikeable” *** Is the strike legal?

Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Chuck Goudie asks a good question: Is the Chicago teachers strike legal?…

There is a new state law in place that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says bans teachers from striking for anything other than compensation. Emanuel says the two issues remaining on the table have nothing to do with that, raising the question: is this a legal strike?

Mayor Emanuel has repeatedly made the statement that the teachers union is conducting a strike of choice, and that teachers are striking over two items that are not subject to a job action under current Illinois law.

Emanuel says the law states teachers may strike only because of compensation, and according to the mayor, neither of the disputed contract items involve pay or benefits. […]

According to Mayor Emanuel, teacher evaluation and teacher staffing are the two issues.

Mayor Emanuel: “Neither one of these issues are allowed to be strikeable by law…yet these are the final two issues.” […]

An attorney for the Chicago Teachers Union says, although some items have been resolved Monday, there are many more than two open issues remaining, some involve compensation, and that Mayor Emanuel is wrong: teachers are permitted under the law to strike for certain non-pay issues, even including air-conditioned classrooms.

* From a CTU press release…

“Recognizing the Board’s fiscal woes, we are not far apart on compensation. However, we are apart on benefits. We want to maintain the existing health benefits.”

So, there is a financial component to this, and the union appears to be almost accepting the four-year 16 percent pay raise (following a 4 percent cut this past year). The Board has offered this for health insurance…

The Board is calling for a modification to the health care plan funding that will freeze all employee health care contributions for single and couple plans with a small increase in family contributions of no more than $20 a pay period in addition to a small increase in emergency room co-pays. 67 percent of all CTU members will not see a change to their healthcare.

* But this is also from the same CTU press release…

“While new Illinois law prohibits us from striking over the recall of laid-off teachers and compensation for a longer school year, we do not intend to sign an agreement until these matters are addressed.”

So, they can’t legally strike over those two issues, but they are anyway.

This goes back to something I wrote during the state education reform negotiations. Teachers went on strike a whole lot more back in the days when state law expressly prohibited strikes. Drastically limiting their collective bargaining rights will not stop them now.

It’s just that simple.

*** UPDATE *** Sun-Times…

As Chicago Public Schools teachers hit the picket lines for a second day, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said repeatedly Tuesday that what he sees as the two key issues for teachers are “not strikeable“ and that he would rather settle the strike at the bargaining table than the courtroom.

“My view is to work these issues out at the table. That’s what I want to do. That is where I want to achieve it,” Emanuel said Tuesday. […]

The teachers union, however, disagrees, saying that the teacher evaluation process is an issue they can legally strike over, and the city could not successfully go to court to stop the strike by getting an injunction.

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Strike goes national *** LIVE COVERAGE ***

Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The national Republicans are playing a game of “Gotcha” with President Obama over the Chicago teachers’ strike. The President’s spokesman said yesterday that Obama hasn’t “expressed an opinion on how [the strike] should be resolved. We’re urging the sides to resolve it.” Fox News, of course, fans the flames…

Mitt Romney and his surrogates are accusing President Obama of quietly giving Chicago teachers the green-light to strike, as the historic stand-off affecting nearly 400,000 students enters its second day.

The cable network didn’t back up that lede with any quotes, even from people who wished not to see their names used. Instead, they quoted GOP leaders slamming Obama for not getting more involved…

“We stand with the children and we stand with the families and the parents of Chicago because education reform, that’s a bipartisan issue. This does not have to divide the two parties. And so, we were going to ask, where does President Obama stand? Does he stand with his former Chief of Staff Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with the children and the parents, or does he stand with the union?” [Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan] asked. […]

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that by “refusing to condemn” the strike, Obama “has sent a clear message that the hundreds of thousands of children who are suffering because of this strike take a back seat to his political allies.”

Julio Fuentes, a member of Romney’s education policy group, called the strike “just yet another example of President Obama refusing to lead on matters of pressing concern to our nation.”

* Rush Limbaugh, however, let loose…

This school teacher strike in Chicago? Let’s just see how long this thing goes on, and let’s see how it gets solved. Anybody want to bet against me that Obama’s the one that gets credit for this, in a few short days? Anybody want to bet that there might be a little bit of violence and finally Obama will have to move in and do something? He and Rahm will figure this out so they get credit for solving it. Because, I tell you: There is no union that is gonna go on strike right now for the express purpose of harming Barack Obama.

Quite the contrary.

Any union who thinks their actions would end up hurting Obama will delay or put off those actions. I don’t think Rahm’s gonna beat up the teachers; I just think he’ll talk to the gangbangers and say, “You know what I told you about ignoring the kids? Well, forget it for a couple days.” No, I’m just kidding. I just kidding. I’m just telling you, we know the alliance between the Democrat Party and Obama (more so than Rahm, but nevertheless Rahm’s part of it) and the unions. […]

This school teacher strike in some ways may be like the environmentalist wackos. The environmentalist wackos sue the EPA, then the EPA settles with them. It’s an inside-outside game. The EPA claims it had no choice but to settle on certain terms. Here the teachers strike, Rahm Emanuel eventually says he had to give them much of what they wanted or the kids would still be out of school. That’s what’s gonna happen. And Obama, I’m not predicting it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama inserts himself in the mix here somehow to bring reason and compassion. Not to the point that Rahm is hurt. It’ll not happen in a way that makes Rahm look incompetent. No, no, no. They will do it working together.

* Rush can probably be forgiven for not knowing the CTU very well. The union has some radical elements which don’t care about national political implications…

In 2010, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE), led by President Karen Lewis gained control over the CTU by winning 60% of the vote in a run-off election. CORE ran an aggressive grassroots organizing campaign, and took a strong stance against school privatization. CORE accused the incumbent United Progressive Caucus (UPC) of capitulating to corporate interests, silencing dissent within the union, and collaborating with the city to prevent union out reach at schools

Also back in 2010, CORE protested Obama’s education policies…

More than 100 teachers organized by CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) protested the visit of President Barack Obama to Chicago on August 5, 2010. The teachers assembled with picket signs at the Chicago Art Institute and then marched down Michigan Ave to the Chicago Cultural Center, where Obama was speaking. Signs read criticisms of Obama and his education plan.

* On to the live coverage. BlackBerry users click here. Everybody else can just watch..

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