Chicago City Colleges staffers’ strike threat gets results

Chicago, IL – In the early hours of Monday morning, October 19, Cook County College Teachers Union Local 1600 (CCCTU) announced a tentative agreement on a contract for staff and faculty at City Colleges of Chicago, after months of bargaining. After negotiations finally concluded around 4 a.m., CCCTU President Tony Johnston declared, “I am proud of our negotiating teams, of our members who were prepared to strike, and of this contract.”

Workers were scheduled to go on strike starting Monday, and it was this threat that made the administration stop dragging out negotiations. CCCTU leadership will now bring the proposal to their membership to vote to ratify, and then it will have to be approved by the City Colleges Board of Trustees. The union has kept a strike on the table through the whole bargaining process, and they aren’t backing down from that until the contract is ratified.

Rank-and-file CCCTU member Chanel Crittenden said that City Colleges administration started the bargaining process from an insincere position. City Colleges’ negotiation team included corporate-backed union-busting lawyers and offered a miniscule annual wage increase that fell well below inflation. Crittenden highlighted the hostile attitude of the administration, saying, “CCCTU dominated the last contract negotiations, and it seemed like City Colleges of Chicago wanted to revoke some of those wins.”

CCCTU, on the other hand, was looking out for its members and students in their newest contract. The union demanded a dignified wage increase that would actually keep up with inflation. They also called for more oversight on the use of AI in the classroom. Crittenden explained that employees at the City Colleges saw that administration was making moves to replace the highly personal language skills of bilingual workers with deeply flawed AI translation programs.

The union also fought to reduce the financial burden for their overwhelmingly working-class and low-income Black and brown students. The agreement included a task force to explore making introductory developmental courses free for the majority Black and brown and working-class student body. CCCTU argued that their students shouldn’t have to use up their hard-earned financial aid before they can even start taking courses in their degree program.

CCCTU boldly threatened to strike from the very start of negotiations to show the administration they were serious about meeting the needs of their members and students. Members voted 91% in favor of authorizing a strike in September, and Crittenden stated, “leading up to the strike vote, members were setting up information tables on campus and holding practice pickets.”

Solidarity was the name of the game in the last few weeks of the bargaining process.

Crittenden stated, “I was feeling energized while preparing for the strike. It’s been a roller coaster; it’s been a lot of energy but also anxiety. You want to make sure you can be there for your family, your friends, and your community. I was really grateful to everybody who showed up and showed a strong sense of solidarity.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #ChicagoCityColleges #CCCTU