Against Trump, For the Common Good: What Chicago Teachers Won in Their Latest Contract

[Omaha Steve]

The Chicago Teachers Union has long taken on neoliberal Democrats and won. Their latest contract is a victory against the new Trump administration, leaders say.

Kari Lydersen April 18, 2025

Last week, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) membership voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract following nearly a year of negotiations that were at times contentious with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The four-year contract represents a direct rebuke to the Trump administration’s attacks on academic freedom and immigrants, enshrining protections that the union began fighting for months before President Trump was elected.

The agreement is also a prime example of the labor strategy of bargaining for the ​“common good,” with provisions that help not only specific union members in the workplace but the broader community as a whole, at a time when such measures are especially crucial.

Union members voted by 97% to approve the contract, and the months-long negotiations showcased an impasse between the union and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. Martinez was ultimately fired by the school board in December but remains in office with a legal challenge pending. Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former CTU member, had also reportedly called on Martinez to resign.

A new 21-member school board that is half elected and half appointed by the mayor must still approve the contract later this month, but is expected to give it a green light. The cost is pegged at around $1.5 billion, which will be funded in part through redirecting Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds?—?property tax funding intended to benefit blighted communities but often used to subsidize development in wealthy areas.

FULL story: https://inthesetimes.com/article/chicago-teachers-union-contract-trump-sanctuary-common-good