After CTU Leaders Meet, Teachers Strike Vote Could Follow
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Teachers Union leaders are gathering right now in the South Loop, and they're expected to ask teachers to take another strike vote.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports from outside a meeting where union delegates are gathering to decide if their members will take another strike authorization vote.
Tonight's vote by the house of delegates is basically a move to cover their behinds.
If the vote goes as expected, this will be the second time teachers have been asked to authorize a strike.
Teachers voted in favor of a strike in December of 2015, and in April of 2016, the teachers had a one-day walkout.
Union leaders say Chicago Public Schools officials could technically call that walkout a strike, so union leaders need teachers to take a vote to authorize another strike.
Some 800 delegates are gathering tonight to talk about that vote.
"The feeling is that we would love to be appreciated more as teachers in the City of Chicago," Chicago Teachers Union Member Frank Menzies says. "I'm sure that many people feel the way that we do, but our togetherness is our strength, so we're here tonight, just to talk amongst each other...to determine what would be the best move."
If delegates vote in favor of a vote, they will have to set a date for that vote. And if those 25,000 CTU members authorize a strike, the teachers are one step closer to a walk-out in October.
