For the next week, we'll be discussing the situation with the Chicago Board of Education's new budget ($5.8 billion) and how that relates to the contract negotiations that CPS is having with the Chicago Teachers Union.
Members of Teamsters Local 726, which represents about 2,000 city truck drivers, voted 270-172 to reject a proposed 10-year contract agreement with City Hall, said Marty Zamora, a union steward who opposed the proposed pact.
Union members who voted no had concerns about such things as sick-day provisions, the possibility of future privatization of some city services and locking into an agreement for 10 years instead of the usual 4 years, Zamora said Thursday
Union officers were unavailable for comment.
"The next step is to go back to the bargaining table," said Jodi Kawada, a city spokeswoman. "We will determine what the concerns are and work to address them."
The current agreement with the union contains a no-strike provision, Kawada said.
Earlier this month, Local 726 was one of 33 unions that reached tentative agreements with the city on long-term deals that would carry through the 2016 Olympics. Chicago is the United States' candidate vying to host the event.
Privatization should be one of the worries of Chicago teachers under the "new" contract. The Board of Education can change any school it wants any time, which means that no teacher's seniority is safe. Look at what happened to the teachers at DuSable and South Shore when those schools went to "small schools." The schools didn't become charters, but for many of the teachers the results were the same.
Also, the same was true for many of the teachers at Sherman, which is being praised today by that scab newspaper, the Chicago Tribune.
CPS wants to get rid of veteran teachers, and privatization is only one way they are doing it.
How many schools in Chicago are really having union meetings and a free and open discussion of the proposed contract? What do people think about demanding that Marilyn Stewart and her "team" sponsor three or four city-wide question and answer sessions on the contract for the rank and file (without bureaucrats in the audience to shill softball questions to her)? There is still almost a week before the vote. What should happen?
Substance is a monthly investigative journal that reports on the public schools. Though based in Chicago for the past 30 years, Substance also reports on national education issues including No Child Left Behind.
Substance is the only newspaper to combine teaching experience with the tenacity of reporting to tackle the problems facing the country's education system.
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City truck drivers reject 10-year contract proposal
We are next!
Tribune staff report
7:07 PM CDT, August 30, 2007
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-union31aug31,1,128738.story
Members of Teamsters Local 726, which represents about 2,000 city truck drivers, voted 270-172 to reject a proposed 10-year contract agreement with City Hall, said Marty Zamora, a union steward who opposed the proposed pact.
Union members who voted no had concerns about such things as sick-day provisions, the possibility of future privatization of some city services and locking into an agreement for 10 years instead of the usual 4 years, Zamora said Thursday
Union officers were unavailable for comment.
"The next step is to go back to the bargaining table," said Jodi Kawada, a city spokeswoman. "We will determine what the concerns are and work to address them."
The current agreement with the union contains a no-strike provision, Kawada said.
Earlier this month, Local 726 was one of 33 unions that reached tentative agreements with the city on long-term deals that would carry through the 2016 Olympics. Chicago is the United States' candidate vying to host the event.
Hey Kugler, are you a truck driver or a teacher?
Privatization should be one of the worries of Chicago teachers under the "new" contract. The Board of Education can change any school it wants any time, which means that no teacher's seniority is safe. Look at what happened to the teachers at DuSable and South Shore when those schools went to "small schools." The schools didn't become charters, but for many of the teachers the results were the same.
Also, the same was true for many of the teachers at Sherman, which is being praised today by that scab newspaper, the Chicago Tribune.
CPS wants to get rid of veteran teachers, and privatization is only one way they are doing it.
A history of Job Actions by the Chicago Teachers Union
http://download48.mediafire.com/hytmzvgydzzg/8nnndjtxbqg/On+Strike.PDF
How many schools in Chicago are really having union meetings and a free and open discussion of the proposed contract? What do people think about demanding that Marilyn Stewart and her "team" sponsor three or four city-wide question and answer sessions on the contract for the rank and file (without bureaucrats in the audience to shill softball questions to her)? There is still almost a week before the vote. What should happen?
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