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UNION NEWS
Meeting ended in squabbling over the replacement of a trustee
Partisan bickerings continue to disrupt monthly Chicago Teachers Union
meetings
By Terry Daniels
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 I went to the new members’
event closest to my home at HoneySuckles, a beautiful banquet hall I didn’t
know existed, with a wonderful parking lot, at 204 W. 83rd St. I would
say there were over a hundred people in attendance; the food was excellent;
the company was vivacious (seems school workers were ready for a party);
and the raffle prizes were numerous and satisfying. All of the officers
and some others in the union administration attended. The nurse I brought
to the event, who was new to the synow more about it, joined the union.
It was a happy experience for me.
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The action on the
Agenda Items for Action
Terry Zawacki, delegate
from Bennett/Shedd School, was the maker on the original motion which
was the first item, and he rose to the mike to say that he was upset that
he was not contacted by the scholarship committee to which his motion
had been referred. His motion had increased the total of CTU scholarships
traditionally given by eight, from 15 to 23. He also moved that additional
scholarships be named after CTU members, deceased and living. The approved
amended motion from the Scholarship Committee increased the motion by
three scholarships, and said that the names for each of the scholarships
would be determined by the Executive Committee.
Tony Gudwien of Kelvyn
Park High School addressed the issue of a courtesy notification to the
maker of a motion as to when the committee would consider the motion.
The leadership apologized for not contacting Gudwein.
Jay Rehak spoke for
the approved amended motion for eighteen scholarships. The amended motion
was then further amended to twenty scholarships. Erin Doubleday of Finkl
School moved to close debate, and the ayes had it for the amended version
of the amended motion.
Len Kedzior, retiree
delegate, in a friendly amendment then added the word “new”
before “scholarships” regarding the amendment about names for
them. Zawacki said he didn’t want the scholarships named after him,
but after distinguished delegates of the House who had been around for
15 — 20 years, like William O. Stewart (recently deceased), Helen
Ramirez-Odell, nurse delegate — or Louis Pyster, Zawacki added, who,
he said, is not deceased. The ayes had it on both motions regarding the
naming of the scholarships.
The second item for
consideration was the following original motion which was referred to
the Education Committee:
Be it resolved that the CTU encourage all its members to engage in
ongoing educational activities related to the changes that have taken
place in the world as a result of the September 11 attacks. These activities
would involve, wherever possible, union members, students, and parents.
They could include topics such as: racial profiling and racist attacks
on Muslims, the war against Afghanistan, the potential for war in the
Middle East, options for peaceful solutions, the changes in attitude
toward civil liberties, and the role of the media.
The Education Committee
approved the following substitute motion:
Whereas: The Illinois State Goals for Social Studies mandate that
students study current events, foreign policy and the role of the United
States in world affairs; Therefore: Be it resolved that the CTU encourage
all its members to engage in educational activities related to the changes
that have taken place in the world as a result of the September 11 attacks.
These activities would involve, wherever possible, union members, students
and parents. They could include topics such as: racial profiling and
racist attacks, the war in Afghanistan, the potential for war around
the world, options for peaceful solutions, and the changes in attitude
toward civil liberties. To assist members of the CTU in implementing
this motion, the Quest Center will gather resources, lesson ideas, names
of potential speakers, and other relevant materials; which will be available
to all members.
There was debate around
this motion. The maker of the original motion, Janice Recinos of Kanoon
School, said she considers herself an activist, as well as a unionist,
and that she had been contacted about the committee’s consideration
of the motion and that she spoke in favor of it as presented from committee.
She said that as a unionist it was important to her that queries be made
about how our government uses our money, how money is taken away from
our children in schools, and how we have an obligation to be a voice for
those without voices.
Also speaking in favor
of the motion, Carol Caref of Chicago Vocational High School cautioned
against being too quick to jump on a patriotic band wagon. She cited the
bombing of the Arab American Center on 63rd and Kedzie, the wars in Iran
and Iraq, and said she didn’t want students sent off to die for oil
interests.
Tina Beacock of Kennedy
High School asked if anyone was opposed to this motion. The airline companies
got million dollar bailouts, she said, while the employees got layoff
notices. She added that teachers have been investigated to see if they
were being patriotic enough.
Helen Ramirez-Odell,
nurse delegate, then made a motion to amend the substitute motion to add
“gender apartheid and discrimination” to the list of topics.
When she spoke to her motion to amend after getting a “second”,
she said that an Afghan woman compared her nation to a wounded bird, one
wing broken and one whole, so the bird couldn’t fly. The broken wing
was a symbol of the women, who were invisible and had no opportunities.
The motion to amend passed, as did the substitute motion as a whole.
The third item for
action, Item C, was on the original motion made by Gerry Adler, retiree
delegate: The CTU House of Delegates instructs our negotiators to sign
no more multi-year contracts unless and until our full bargaining rights,
stripped from us, in the 1995 School Reform Act, are fully restored by
the legislature and signed by the governor on or before the expiration
of our current contract in 2003.
This motion was referred
to the Professional Problems Committee which referred it to the Executive
Committee which approved the following substitute motion: The continued
existence of Section 4.5 in the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act,
as amended by the School Reform Act of 1995, deprives us of bargaining
rights and limits the scope of negotiations. This badly [word amended
to “severely” in the ensuing debate] restricts our ability to
bargain to protect our members and achieve school reform through improved
working and learning conditions. Unless and until these rights are restored,
a poor climate exists for the entry into a multi-year contract. Therefore,
we urge the Mayor of the City of Chicago and the Board of Education to
join with CTU in lobbying both political parties in the legislature to
restore these rights.
Discussion and debate
of this motion included one opinion that the sentence about the multi-year
contract weakened the motion. Lynch stated that our lawyer opined that
it was not a lawful way to enter into good-faith bargaining.
Judy Dever, elementary
functional vice president, rose to make a friendly amendment to notify
all incumbent and challenging candidates about our views on 4.5 as expressed
in the approved substitute motion. Lynch ruled Dever’s motion out
of order, saying it was not an amendment, but a new motion.
The substitute motion
as approved by committee passed with a voice vote after debate and with
the one indicated bracketed amendment.
The last two items
D (how to advertise House endorsements of pension candidates) and E (to
appoint Leandres White to fill the union trustee vacancy) have been discussed
elsewhere in this report. Some of the Who’s on first? and Who’s
on second? can be found there. If I gave the ins and outs of the parliamentary
quagmire that went on regarding Item E, it would take a more serious life
commitment than the reader and I can possibly make in this age where people
live the busiest of lives. However, I would like to end with a personal
tribute to Leandres White of CVS, a union activist for more than thirty
years, delegate through many strikes, and delegate at CVS through the
Betty Despenza Green reign of terror, confusion, and deception there.
You had to be fearless, ingenious, dedicated, and totally savvy to stick
it as delegate, as well as survive.
I wrote four articles
about the test cheating scandal Despenza Green led as principal of CVS.
Students were given “make-up” standardized tests (TAP) with
an unsecured and unauthorized form of the test, in informal, unregulated
settings long after testing was finished in the city. Maybe this was one
of the ways in which scores, of course, went up. CVS became, according
to former President Bill Clinton, a national model. Lee White’s experienced
hand was to a large extent the hand on the helm that kept the school and
union boat afloat during that time.
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