Teachers Union To Start Strike Authorization Vote This Week

By Kate Shepherd in News on Dec 8, 2015 3:00PM

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, seen at a rally protesting school closings in March. (Photo credit: Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist)

Another Chicago teachers strike could be looming. The Chicago Teachers Union is set to start its three-day vote strike authorization vote on Wednesday.

The vote will happen before school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday until 100 percent of the active CTU members in the building have voted, according to CTU. The voting will continue after Friday to accommodate the entire union and every non-vote is automatically counted as a "no." The union needs 75 percent of the teachers to vote "yes" in order to strike.

Authorizing a strike does not mean that a strike will start immediately. It just allows the CTU's House of Delegates to set a strike date in the future if an agreement cannot be reached. The union's ongoing bargaining with Chicago Public Schools will not stop approved and authorization gives the teachers' bargaining team more leverage with the district at the table.

During a practice vote in November, 97 percent of CTU members authorized a strike, according to NBC.

The union is currently negotiating with CPS about 5,000 possible job cuts, due to the ongoing Illinois budget stalemate.

The potential layoffs, which were announced by CPS CEO Forrest Claypool in September, would require reprogramming almost 700 schools and would affect between 175,000 and 300,000 students, according to CTU President Karen Lewis.