Contract negotiations in 52 school districts may see Chicago Teachers Union-style radicalism
At least 52 school districts represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers – the parent union and chief ally of the Chicago Teachers Union – are up for contract negotiations this year. CTU’s militant social agenda is being spread by IFT to other teachers unions.
There are 52 school districts with teachers represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers where teacher contracts are expiring this year – placing those districts at risk of seeing militant demands and tactics being spread by the Chicago Teachers Union.
IFT has affiliates in over 200 districts throughout Illinois, with 52 of those districts negotiating new contracts this year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Because IFT and CTU are so inseparable, those 52 districts could be infiltrated by CTU’s radical agenda. IFT has embraced CTU’s radical negotiating and use of contracts to further its political goals.
CTU’s agenda includes “bargaining for the common good.” It is a euphemism for using union contract negotiations to push through a political agenda that should be determined through a democratic process – not in union contract.
Parents and taxpayers in the districts affiliated with IFT – and therefore CTU – should be prepared. CTU fosters contracts that are hostile to property taxpayers.
CTU pushes politically motivated “bargaining for the common good”
CTU prides itself in demanding social justice and other progressive provisions during negotiations rather than sticking to typical wage and benefit demands.
Its mission to put politically motivated provisions in its union contract is part of a broader movement of “bargaining for the common good” – a euphemism for using union contract negotiations to tackle issues such as racial justice, climate justice and immigration at the bargaining table, outside the normal democratic process.
While the strategy was initiated by CTU, it didn’t stay isolated to Chicago. After CTU’s 2012 strike ended, “union leaders planned town halls in other cities across the country, in New York and Cleveland, San Francisco and Tampa, to spread the new gospel” of putting “things on the table that hadn’t been on the table before.”
In fact, “bargaining for the common good” has been adopted by the American Federation of Teachers, the national affiliate of IFT and CTU. That means it’s also automatically been adopted by the local unions in the other 200 districts represented by IFT across Illinois by virtue of their affiliation.
Other districts represented by IFT are at risk of politically-motivated contracts
With AFT, IFT and CTU all pushing for radical new provisions in union contracts, the 52 IFT districts negotiating contracts in 2025 should be on high alert.
That’s especially true for districts with already more militant unions, such as Champaign Unit 4 School District, which threatened to strike in 2022 and 2018.
What might these local IFT unions demand? CTU provides extensive examples. Recent costly and politically-motivated CTU demands included “police-free schools,” cash for asylum seekers and carbon neutrality in the district, among others. CTU also demanded and obtained provisions keeping secrets from parents regarding their student’s preferred gender identity.
While other IFT districts may not have seen such demands yet, they should be prepared for the eventual trickle-down effect of this “bargaining for the common good” strategy in 2025.