Chicago Teachers To Authorize Strike
The union is hoping to use the threat of a walkout as leverage at the negotiating table.
| Posted Monday, June 11, 2012, at 10:44 AM
Photograph by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
Chicago teachers are expected to announce Monday that they've authorized a strike, indicating that a tense contract negotiation is on the horizon for the third-largest school district in the country.
Union officials counted ballots over the weekend and while an official announcement isn't due until later Monday afternoon, officials tell CBS Chicago that it is already clear that they've "well surpassed" the 75-percent bar required by law to authorize a strike.
While the vote means the union has the legal right to strike, it doesn't necessarily mean they will. The Chicago Sun-Times explains that union organizers are hoping to use the threat of one to resolve negotiations before the start of the next school year. A walkout wouldn't be possible until mid-August. If the union strikes, it'd be the first time since 1987.
Teachers' current deal with the Chicago Public School system expires June 30. Issues under discussion for the new contract include pay raises, a longer school day, and better working conditions, ABC 7 Chicago reports.
