Posts tagged Chicago
ILLINOIS: SEIU announces ‘unprecedented wage increases’ for park district workers
April 29, 2024 // SEIU workers will get unprecedented wage increases, according to a statement from the union, pending ratification of the tentative agreement. Dabrowski said ordinary Chicagoans are going to have to pay a lot more for government employees. “All these workers want big, big raises. They have guaranteed multi-year contracts when they sign these things. Many of them get guaranteed pensions,” Dabrowski said. SEIU Local 73 President Dian Palmer expressed heartfelt gratitude to Johnson and his staff for their instrumental role in facilitating the agreement. The SEIU endorsed Johnson for mayor and donated more than $4 million to his campaign.
The “Troublemakers” of the Labor Movement Gather in Chicago
April 26, 2024 // To learn about strategies to combat union busting, Johnston attended a workshop on “inoculation,” or how to prepare coworkers for fear tactics from the boss. It gave him an idea—a bingo card with common anti-union talking points he could hand out for coworkers to fill out during captive-audience meetings, mandatory meetings managers can hold with workers to convey anti-union messages.
Teamsters local unions including one in Urbandale hit Pepsi with unfair labor practices charge
April 23, 2024 // PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) delivery drivers and warehouse employees in the Chicago area are threatening to go on strike if the company doesn’t agree to terms demanded by the Teamsters union. Of those participating in the vote, 95% approved of a strike. The Teamsters Local 727 union, which represents 800 employees in the region, are demanding higher wages and health care protections. The current contract expires on April 28.
InfluenceWatch Podcast #313: America’s Worst Teachers Union?
April 23, 2024 // It might be America’s worst teachers’ union—and knowing American teachers’ unions, that’s saying something. Since its takeover by a radical-left-wing, militant caucus in 2010, the Chicago Teachers Union has pushed a radical-left agenda through numerous strike actions and controversially aided the mayoral campaign of Brandon Johnson, a former lobbyist for the union, in the city. Just last month, the union allegedly used school time to rally students to vote for a tax hike ballot measure supported by the union and now-Mayor Johnson. Joining us to discuss the Chicago Teachers Union is Mailee Smith, Senior Director of Labor Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.
Commentary: The Teachers’ Unions Are More Political than Ever
April 18, 2024 // Americans for Fair Treatment, a national nonprofit organization that educates public employees about their rights in a unionized workplace, recently released a report detailing the National Education Association’s (NEA) financial filings from Sept. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2023. The NEA declared that its political spending totaled $50.1 million during the fiscal year, though the true number is much higher. During the most recent reporting period, the union disclosed that it spent “$126.3 million on ‘contributions, gifts, and grants,’ which is where most unions detail their charitable giving.” However, a closer look at the union’s “contributions, gifts, and grants” shows that the NEA is directing more money towards political causes than it reports.
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION CONTRACT DEMANDS ABOUT POLITICS, BOSSES’ POWER
April 15, 2024 // A 142-page leaked document contains hundreds of Chicago Teachers Union contract demands, from 100% abortion coverage to pay for surrogates, from housing students in old schools to a fleet of electric school buses. Then there are 180 more of the union’s favored, failing schools.
Editorial: We shouldn’t have to subsidize union jobs with higher utility bills. A terrible idea surfaces in Springfield.
April 11, 2024 // This bill, though, could open the door to unions or utilities (or both) mounting court challenges to ICC rulings not to their liking on the basis of the effect on the jobs of utility contractors. The requirement would be triggered if the commission or any participant in a rate-hike proceeding estimates 50 or more more union jobs hang in the balance of a rate-hike request. This would be terrible policy. Trade unions have no “right” to a set number of permanent jobs provided by regulated monopolies. The utility revenues on which those union jobs depend come not from government but from you, us and everyone else with homes or businesses that need power and heat. Utility bills aren’t taxes technically, but they might as well be. State government plays a crucial role in what heights those bills reach. And we hardly need to point out how difficult it is for so many Illinoisans to pay those monthly costs.
Trader Joe’s in Chicago files to unionize
April 11, 2024 // The Tribune reports that the Trader Joe’s filed for a union election on Monday, and needs 140 “yes” votes in order to establish the union. The workers there are not affiliated with an established union and instead are organizing independently under the name Trader Joe’s United. One worker at the store told the Tribune that she makes $22.50 an hour and receives 75-cent raises twice a year. Trader Joe’s spokesperson Nakia Rohde told the Tribune that its workers receive annual raises of approximately 7%.
Parents suing Chicago Teachers Union over COVID-19 strike
March 30, 2024 // Teacher strikes are illegal in eight of the 10 largest school districts in the nation, with Chicago being one of the two districts where strikes are allowed. Los Angeles Unified School District is the other, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. A spokesman from the Hughes and Suhr LLC law firm said in Chicago Public Schools, 76% of all students are classified as low-income. They said teachers earn nearly twice the average income of the families they serve and the timing and length of the strike was particularly egregious. Kugler said, in his opinion, CTU deserves punitive consequences. Before he left his position, Kugler was employed by the CTU for over 10 years, where he was part of the union while strike preparation was happening. He said there’s a process to strike.
CTU president suggests new teacher contract could cost taxpayers $50 billion
March 7, 2024 // The Chicago Teachers Union is preparing for collective bargaining talks with the city, and the union's president suggested the new terms would cost taxpayers $50 billion. “We are asking you to give us an opportunity to tell our story. It will cost $50 billion, and three cent,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said Tuesday at the City Club of Chicago this week, setting the stage for upcoming negotiations with the city. "And so what? That's audacity."