The latest standoff between Mayor Lightfoot and the Chicago Teachers Union highlights a defining feature of Lightfoot’s time as mayor: contentious conflict with the CTU.
During a press conference at City Hall Jan. 4, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot discusses the possibility of a Chicago Teachers Union vote for teachers to work remotely during the current COVID-19 surge, which was later approved by the union.
Political leaders, including Lightfoot, have cautioned that the ongoing conflict between CPS and the union could scare parents out of the district after they’ve had to endure multiple rounds of uncertainty over their kids’ schooling during the strike and then the pandemic. “If you stick with tactics in the face of changing conditions, talk to General Westmoreland about that in Vietnam. If things are changing, you have to change your tactics sometimes,” Mooney said. “This is the same for CTU and the mayor, but I think the mayor has more flexibility being an individual and she could probably have more opportunity to maneuver than the CTU does.”
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union and supporters march from the Willis Tower to the Thompson Center for a rally on the fifth day of a strike in Chicago in 2019. Then, as Lightfoot officials planned to reopen schools to start 2021, Lightfoot and CPS officials initially insisted they did not have to negotiate a reopening plan. But the union threatened further work actions and declined to return without a deal, forcing Lightfoot back to the table.
A group of Chicago Public Schools parents gather in front of City Hall before marching to CPS headquarters to submit their demands for improving both remote and in-person learning in Chicago in February 2021. Reiter, who was a key intermediary between both sides, said he’d been “witness to everything all week” and accused Lightfoot of “letting this deal go.”
Text messages between Lightfoot and Sharkey show their strained relationship throughout the various labor disputes.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lightfoot locks teachers out of online classrooms after union votes against in-person classes, CTU saysChicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned that she will take action against teachers who refuse to show up to school today after a union voted against in-person learning.
Read more »
Chicago judge denies Lightfoot's request to halt electronic monitoring for 'violent, dangerous' offendersA Chicago-area judge rejected a request from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to halt electronic monitoring for accused violent offenders, allowing those charged with dangerous crimes to return to the streets.
Read more »
Chicago Teachers Locked Out of Digital Classrooms Amid Omicron SurgeCity officials reacted after the Chicago Teachers Union voted to resume remote learning.
Read more »
Chicago parents blast CTU's 'power play' ahead of possible return to remote learningParents in Chicago are outraged as the city's teachers union mulls a potential walkout this week ahead of a vote on whether the schools will return to remote learning.
Read more »
Chicago Mayor Lightfoot says businesses are 'grateful' for her vaccine mandateChicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says that business owners in her city are 'grateful' that she imposed a vaccine mandate for restaurants and other venues as the city attempts to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more »