The Elimination Of Marc Wigler: Spy Tales Of The CTU

By Caroline O'Donovan in News on May 20, 2012 8:45PM

Banishment for spying: not words you typically expect to come out of a news brief for the Chicago Teachers Union. Apparently, the CTU has a flair for drama, which they expressed by banning so-called school board rat Marc Wigler “public execution style.” Other related news: the CTU retains a union hall security detail, a force they had the opportunity to put in motion on May 9, when the permanently-banned Wigler attempted to attend a House of Delegates meeting two weeks after skipping his CTU trial.

Wigler, a resource teacher who works in multiple schools, is accused of sharing minutes from CTU meetings with the school board, specifically with his “friend” Rachel Resnick. According to the Sun-Times, the Teacher’s Union FOIA’d Wigler’s emails last August, and found proof that Wigler was a “rat,” including one meeting note that specifically reminded union members not to communicate with principals and board members. At the time, the union and the board were fighting over a four percent raise that the board claimed it could not afford, about which negotiations are ongoing and could culminate in a strike vote.

Wigler claims that the emails he sent contained only information that would not affect relations between the board and the union, but CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey said that any unauthorized communication during a “tense period of negotiations and conflict” was unacceptable. George Schmidt of Substance News points to Wigler’s affiliation with the United Progressive Caucus as proof that Wigler wanted the emails publicized as part of his greater “anti-union” agenda.

ChicagoNow CPS blogger Alexander Russo wrote on Wednesday that the “very public” nature of Wigler’s dismissal was unusual. It’s clear, Russo said, that CTU officials wanted to appear “on the ball” in Wigler’s case, which is why they took punitive action usually reserved for strikebreakers.

Wigler, who was responsible for the CTU’s “Fresh Start” initiative a few years ago, plans to repeal his banishment, which bars him from voting in the Union House of Delegates for life.