No 1-Day Strike For Chicago Teachers In May, But Does Union Have An Alternative?

CHICAGO, IL — City public school teachers won't hold a single-day strike May 1, but the Chicago Teachers Union might use that day — Internation Labor Day — to be part of an organized by a broad coalition of activist groups designed to support immigration rights and protest the immigration policies of President Donald Trump.

Last month, CTU leaders floated the idea of a one-day walkout to protest the continued cost-cutting measures by Chicago Public Schools that include unpaid, forced furlough days and the still-looming possibility of ending the academic year early. The strike would have been similar to one Chicago teachers staged April 1 last year in an effort to demand more state funding for city schools and warn of a possible later full-scale strike if a new contract wasn't agreed, something the union and CPS avoided in the 11th hour. The walkout was to go before the union's delegates, who would recommend whether CTU should take that action.

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But the one-day strike item has been removed from Wednesday's delegate meeting, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. In its place is a suggestion that the union and its members to participate in a solidarity "action" to support workers and immigrants May 1, the report added. Delegates now will vote on that item, and if they recommend it, the union's full membership will vote on final approval.

Members from the groups involved in a coalition organizing a May Day event in Chicago announced their plans for a protest at a Wednesday press conference. Organized under #ChicagoFightsBack, the coalition is a combination of labor, religious and other community groups. What role CTU will play in that will be discussed and voted on by delegates during Wednesday's meeting.

RELATED: Will Chicago Teachers Hold A 1-Day Strike In May?

But the agenda's new May Day "action" item isn't the reason for abandoning the one-day strike. Since suggesting walking out May 1, leaders received push back from teachers already frustrated and angry at the possibility of losing another paid work day on top of the CPS unpaid furlough days — Friday is the second planned furlough day — they are forced to take for the remaining school year, according to the Sun-Times. The threat of CPS ending the school year June 1, instead of June 13, for budget reasons also contributed to teachers' fears of not only losing a paycheck, but also losing valuable teaching days for students, the report stated.

Although the one-day strike is no longer an agenda item, delegates can still discuss it at Wednesday's meeting, the report added.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

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