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Chicago Teachers' Strike Day 2: Union And City Continue To Trade Barbs, As Teachers Rally Downtown Again

CHICAGO (CBS) -- With the Chicago teachers' strike in its second day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools leaders have accused the Chicago Teachers Union of not showing a sense of urgency to get a deal done, but the union said the city didn't show any urgency until teachers were on the brink of work stoppage.

"It is not fair for them to talk about urgency when we've been begging for a deal since last October. The terms of this negotiation were set up almost, hell, a year ago," Gates said.

Friday morning, Lightfoot called on CPS and CTU negotiators to be at the table for at least 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, a day after CTU President Jesse Sharkey and Vice President Stacy Davis Gates spent part of Thursday afternoon at a rally and march downtown, instead of staying at the bargaining table all day.

"The principals, either Jesse Sharkey or Stacy Davis Gates, have to be at the table in order for this to move forward," she said.

Gates, however, said there was no validity to the mayor's argument, noting neither Lightfoot nor Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson have been at the table in contract talks.

Gates also vented frustration with the city's stances on class sizes and staffing for nurses, librarians, social workers, and case managers. The union has said the city has yet to put anything in writing on staffing, and it's Thursday offer on class sizes fails to address the issue in 80% to 90% of classrooms at CPS.

"I am irritated on this. I want a proposal on class size that doesn't just deal with 15% of the student population in Chicago. I want a proposal on staffing that provides us a nurse in every single school. You don't need me or Jesse both at the table to offer it to the people who are actually going to implement the contract," Gates said.

Lightfoot, however, said earlier Friday that class size is not an issue in more than 80% of classrooms at CPS.

The mayor and CPS leaders repeatedly have accused CTU of failing to show a sense of urgency in contract talks, pointing to Sharkey and Gates taking a break from negotiations to attend Thursday's rally as an example.

Sharkey has said, even while he and Gates were at Thursday's rally, the rest of the union's bargaining team was still trying to hammer out a deal with the CPS team. Sharkey said, while personally attending negotiations is important, so is taking the union's message to the public.

"We're going to have to do both," Sharkey said. "We're going to spend long days at the table, and we're also going to listen to and relate to our members and the public of this city."

CTU and CPS negotiators resumed negotiations Friday morning at Malcolm X College. Sharkey took a break from negotiations in the afternoon to attend a rally downtown outside City Hall, while Gates remained in talks with CPS.

Gate said she was prepared to stay at the table until midnight Friday night. A union spokesman said, if no deal is reached Friday, negotiations would continue on Saturday, and possibly on Sunday.

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