Posts tagged Chicago
Why Chicago Teachers Union’s $7.3B tax hike will hurt all of Illinois
May 18, 2025 // The Illinois Revenue Alliance, a group which includes the Chicago Teachers Union, has released a proposal to impose nine tax increases and hike statewide taxes by $7.3 billion annually. Some of CTU’s ideas are likely illegal and tax all Illinoisans for the union’s excesses. The Chicago Teachers Union has released a new proposal that calls for nine new tax hikes that would increase statewide taxes by $7.3 billion.
National Right to Work Foundation Launches Campaign to Expose Unite Here’s Bullying of Workers
May 12, 2025 // The NRLB is supposed to enforce federal labor law, including adjudicating disputes between management, union officials, and individual employees. Similar cases of UNITE HERE's malfeasance are being litigated in Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle, and Orlando. As RedState reported, UNITE HERE Local 11 in Los Angeles struck the death knell to the 100-year-old iconic restaurant The Original Pantry Cafe, which was owned by former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan. After Riordan's passing, his trust attempted to sell the restaurant. UNITE HERE swooped in, supposedly on behalf of the workers, and instead of protecting the employees, managed to wreak havoc.
Chicago-Area Chemical Plant Worker Asks National Labor Board to End Policy Letting Union Bosses Trap Workers in Unions
May 9, 2025 // Employees submitted valid petition requesting vote to remove Teamsters union, but union bosses manipulated unproven charges against employer to block vote
Unions, cities, nonprofits sue to block Trump workforce cuts
May 1, 2025 // Musk has tempered his original goal for DOGE to slash $1 trillion from government spending, saying this month it was on track to cut $150 billion this year. The Trump administration has faced more than 200 lawsuits challenging its policies, with a significant number calling the president's directives unconstitutional. The case is American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO et al v Trump et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 25-03698.
Chicago school board OKs $139M to fund new teacher contract, launches equity initiatives
April 27, 2025 // “We’re doing everything we can to shield as much as we can, as we plan for the upcoming budget season,” said Ben Felton, the district’s chief talent officer, in a presentation touting the CPS teacher recruitment process to board members. “But maintaining staffing levels will require additional revenue, and there’s no disillusionment around that.” To address disparities that persist between Black students and other student groups in terms of discipline, academic achievement and access to rigorous academic courses and extracurricular activities, the school board passed a resolution codifying its Black Student Achievement Committee, chaired by board member Jitu Brown, of District 6, on the city’s West Side.
Amazon faces legal complaint for refusing to negotiate with unionized S.F. workers
April 24, 2025 // A hearing is scheduled for August before an administrative law judge. If the judge rules against Amazon, the company could be ordered to begin negotiations — a move that may influence similar union efforts at warehouses in New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Southern California. The San Francisco workers were part of a national strike last December, calling for higher wages, improved safety and official union recognition.
Chicago Teachers Union secures clean energy wins in new contract
April 22, 2025 // If approved, the contract will result in new programs that prepare students for clean energy jobs, developed in collaboration with local labor unions. It mandates that district officials work with the teachers union to seek funding for clean energy investments and update a climate action plan by 2026. And it calls for installing heat pumps and outfitting 30 schools with solar panels — if funding can be secured. The Southeast Environmental Task Force led the successful fight to ban new petcoke storage in Chicago, and the group’s co-executive director Olga Bautista is also vice president of the 21-member school board. People for Community Recovery was founded by Hazel Johnson, who is often known as “the mother of the environmental justice movement.” And ONE Northside emphasizes the link between clean energy and affordable housing.
Chicago teachers reach contract deal for the first time in more than a decade without a strike
April 15, 2025 // For the first time in over a decade, Chicago’s public school teachers have a new contract without a strike or threat of a walkout. The four-year agreement includes pay hikes, hiring more teachers and class size limits.
Chicago teachers vote on deal to bring average salary to over $114,000 per year
April 12, 2025 // “It’s estimated to cost around $1.5 billion, and Johnson has said he doesn’t have a plan yet to pay for it,” Smith told The Center Square. CPS teachers currently have an average salary of more than $93,000 per year. If they approve the tentative agreement, the number would rise to $114,429 by the end of the contract. Smith said teachers can expect to pay more in dues to CTU. “When government unions like Chicago Teachers Union are advocating for higher salaries for teachers and for other school employees, what they are really advocating for is a higher dues amount coming from that employee, because every time they score a win in the raise category, that means they are also going to be taking more money out of that person’s paycheck,” Smith said.
CTU contract: Union’s tentative agreement with CPS will cost $1.5 billion; how will the city pay?
April 3, 2025 // The Civic Federation weighed in on the budget back-and-forth Tuesday. "That's the million-dollar question — or rather, the hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars question," the Civic Federation sad in a statement. "As of now, we don't have any further insight into how CPS plans to pay for the contract beyond the first year." Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked about that $175 million pension payment. "The contract is paid for by a separate entity of government, the Chicago Public Schools. And that, in part, is the responsibility of the CEO to be able to come up with mechanisms to be able to satisfy that," said Mayor Johnson. Martinez's suggestion to cover the pension payment is a tax levy.