Mayor says teachers holding up contract talks over affordable housing. Union replies: ‘We have nearly 17,000 homeless students.’
By DIANA WALLACE
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
OCT 09, 2019
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has raised another issue that she said is holding up an agreement with the teachers union: affordable housing.
In a statement late Tuesday — nine days from a strike date set by the Chicago Teachers Union — the mayor said the union is “demanding that the city enact CTU’s preferred affordable housing policy as part of their contract.”
With the potential walkout looming, Lightfoot said the union laid out this demand rather than providing a response to what she called the city’s comprehensive contract offer. She said that Tuesday marked the 49th time that representatives from Chicago Public Schools and the CTU have been at the bargaining table and the 142nd day without a full counterproposal from the union.
In a response early Wednesday morning, the CTU tweeted that “we have nearly 17,000 homeless students in CPS.”
“Our proposals demand more staff to support families in danger of losing housing, and advocate for a program that financially helps (support staff members) and new teachers purchase a home,” the union continued. "The mayor finds them ‘unreasonable.’"
Lightfoot said she welcomes CTU’s input into her strategy for addressing the issue and said the union “shares much of our vision on affordable housing," which she called a “critical issue that affects residents across Chicago, and everyone’s voices need to be heard during this process.”
But she said the CTU’s collective bargaining agreement “is not the appropriate place for the city to legislate its affordable housing policy.”
“We are a week away from our deadline to resolve this contract and avoid a strike. We need CTU to come to the table with written proposals on the core issues we need to address in order to resolve the contract," the mayor said. "Once this contract is resolved, our Department of Housing will continue to work closely with stakeholders — including unions like the CTU — to ensure everyone in all of our communities has access to a safe, affordable, accessible place to live.”
In June, the union posted an essay on its website from its newly formed housing committee saying that because the teachers union contract is legally binding, it would be “an innovative tool to achieve housing goals that may be elusive in other arenas.”
To that end, the union said it wants in its contract language that would direct CPS to provide housing assistance to new teachers, to hire staff members to help students and their families who are in danger of losing housing, and to advocate for more affordable housing. The union also wants to ensure that TIF funds and other taxes are used to fund affordable housing units, and that housing is identified for 15,000 homeless students by 2020 through Section 8 voucher programs and housing rehabilitation.
Union officials also noted that other groups of public employees in Chicago, like police officers and firefighters, receive housing subsidies. The union also claims that about two-thirds of teaching assistants, school clerks and other paraprofessionals qualify for free or reduced lunch for their children, and many cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment based in any Chicago neighborhood based on prevailing rental rates.
“Any teacher could make a laundry list of needs for their schools and communities, but if families do not have a place to live, it is very difficult for them to stay in our neighborhoods. Without students, we cannot have schools. So, to fully support our public schools, we must address the lack of sustainable, affordable housing in our city,” the union’s housing committee wrote. “Access to stable, affordable housing is critical to the success of our schools and communities."
Union leaders have stressed that they want to negotiate on a wide range of issues that go beyond ones required to be handled through collective bargaining, such as pay and health insurance costs. Matters such as class size, enhanced staffing of social workers and school nurses, and other classroom conditions also big priorities, CTU officials have said.
CPS employs about 25,000 teachers and has roughly 360,000 students, about 300,000 of whom would be affected by any teachers strike (those who attend charter schools will not). The teachers union has set an Oct. 17 strike date, as have about 10,000 support staff and Park District employees who say they will also walk off the job that day without new contract deals.
By DIANA WALLACE
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
OCT 09, 2019
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has raised another issue that she said is holding up an agreement with the teachers union: affordable housing.
In a statement late Tuesday — nine days from a strike date set by the Chicago Teachers Union — the mayor said the union is “demanding that the city enact CTU’s preferred affordable housing policy as part of their contract.”
With the potential walkout looming, Lightfoot said the union laid out this demand rather than providing a response to what she called the city’s comprehensive contract offer. She said that Tuesday marked the 49th time that representatives from Chicago Public Schools and the CTU have been at the bargaining table and the 142nd day without a full counterproposal from the union.
In a response early Wednesday morning, the CTU tweeted that “we have nearly 17,000 homeless students in CPS.”
“Our proposals demand more staff to support families in danger of losing housing, and advocate for a program that financially helps (support staff members) and new teachers purchase a home,” the union continued. "The mayor finds them ‘unreasonable.’"
Lightfoot said she welcomes CTU’s input into her strategy for addressing the issue and said the union “shares much of our vision on affordable housing," which she called a “critical issue that affects residents across Chicago, and everyone’s voices need to be heard during this process.”
But she said the CTU’s collective bargaining agreement “is not the appropriate place for the city to legislate its affordable housing policy.”
“We are a week away from our deadline to resolve this contract and avoid a strike. We need CTU to come to the table with written proposals on the core issues we need to address in order to resolve the contract," the mayor said. "Once this contract is resolved, our Department of Housing will continue to work closely with stakeholders — including unions like the CTU — to ensure everyone in all of our communities has access to a safe, affordable, accessible place to live.”
In June, the union posted an essay on its website from its newly formed housing committee saying that because the teachers union contract is legally binding, it would be “an innovative tool to achieve housing goals that may be elusive in other arenas.”
To that end, the union said it wants in its contract language that would direct CPS to provide housing assistance to new teachers, to hire staff members to help students and their families who are in danger of losing housing, and to advocate for more affordable housing. The union also wants to ensure that TIF funds and other taxes are used to fund affordable housing units, and that housing is identified for 15,000 homeless students by 2020 through Section 8 voucher programs and housing rehabilitation.
Union officials also noted that other groups of public employees in Chicago, like police officers and firefighters, receive housing subsidies. The union also claims that about two-thirds of teaching assistants, school clerks and other paraprofessionals qualify for free or reduced lunch for their children, and many cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment based in any Chicago neighborhood based on prevailing rental rates.
“Any teacher could make a laundry list of needs for their schools and communities, but if families do not have a place to live, it is very difficult for them to stay in our neighborhoods. Without students, we cannot have schools. So, to fully support our public schools, we must address the lack of sustainable, affordable housing in our city,” the union’s housing committee wrote. “Access to stable, affordable housing is critical to the success of our schools and communities."
Union leaders have stressed that they want to negotiate on a wide range of issues that go beyond ones required to be handled through collective bargaining, such as pay and health insurance costs. Matters such as class size, enhanced staffing of social workers and school nurses, and other classroom conditions also big priorities, CTU officials have said.
CPS employs about 25,000 teachers and has roughly 360,000 students, about 300,000 of whom would be affected by any teachers strike (those who attend charter schools will not). The teachers union has set an Oct. 17 strike date, as have about 10,000 support staff and Park District employees who say they will also walk off the job that day without new contract deals.
