Potential Chicago teachers strike would come at end of September at earliest

Though both the city and teachers union have expressed hope they can reach an agreement on a new contract without a work stoppage, a potential teachers strike could come as soon as the end of September.

The earliest the Chicago Teachers Union could legally go on strike is Sep. 26, CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said Thursday.

A city spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.

The CTU and city attorneys met with an independent fact-finder Thursday to make their cases for their stances in negotiations. Another meeting is planned Friday at the Loop office of the Chicago Public Schools’ chief labor negotiator, Jim Franczek.

Once the fact-finder releases his report — expected to come Aug. 26 — the two sides will either accept or reject the findings. Illinois law requires the union wait 30 days after receiving that report before enacting a possible work stoppage.

While that process continues, the city and the CTU are slated to return to the bargaining table next Thursday, Davis Gates said.

Davis Gates and CTU President Jesse Sharkey accused Mayor Lori Lightfoot last week of provoking a strike by CPS teachers by reneging on campaign promises to rebuild neighborhood schools and deliver an elected school board. Lightfoot this month offered the union a $300 million contract that included a 14% raise over five years. The mayor called it a “robust and fair” offer.

“I hope that they will come to us with a serious evaluation of that and embrace the reality that there’s no reason why we can’t get a deal done well in advance of the time school starts,” Lightfoot said.

But that offer didn’t go far enough, union leaders said, because it didn’t address the CTU’s demands for increased staffing of social workers and nurses, smaller class sizes and special education resources.

Sharkey said the chances of a strike that would be Chicago’s second in seven years “doubled” last week when Franczek declared the mayor had no intention of addressing the union’s staffing demands at the bargaining table.