Chicago Teachers Prepare To Take Strike Vote
(CBS) -- The president of the Chicago Teachers Union is using social media to encourage teachers to vote yes on strike vote. A personal plea from the president of CTU via Youtube is making the rounds.
Teachers start voting Wednesday to decide if they'll authorize strike vote. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker takes a pulse.
English teacher Janean Gayles says she will vote to authorize a strike. For her, it's about the money. Union officials say CPS is proposing a contract that doubles health premiums and increases pension costs for all teachers and eliminates pay increases for some like Gayles.
"I have a mortgage and they're going to increase my property taxes but at the same time they're going to deduct from the pay that I receive," she said.
A Youtube video from union president Karen Lewis reminds teachers that voting begins Wednesday and both money and non-money issues are reasons they should authorize a strike.
"They include excessive paperwork, lesson planning, over testing and grading," Lewis says in the video.
25,000 union members at 600 schools will be asked to vote. The union needs 75 percent to say 'yes' in order to call a strike.
Jay Rehac is a union delegate, part of the governing body that sets a strike date. He says the strike authorization is, "critical for Karen Lewis and the rest negotiating team to go into those negotiations with the understanding the membership will do this if necessary."
The majority of the teachers are expected to vote yes and give union leaders the authority to strike. The results of the vote are scheduled for Friday.
In a late response, board officials said, "CPS is looking for solutions to our $1.1 billion budget crisis, and a strike isn't the answer."
