Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 10:21 AMBy: CTU "Do Nothing" Leadership National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates With "Do Nothing" Marilyn Stewart, who would wan to join our union. All eyes are on Stewart and her do nothing clique. I bet she is out next election.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 12:24 PMBy: Wait All You Want National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates All the party regulars will pony up thousands of dollars so that Marilyn and company can print up slick campaign literature with cute acronyms that those who are expecting a handout or are asleep at the wheel will gladly mark the UPC ticket. So the House of Delegates meeting was highjacked, no business done and Marilyn had to prompt her regular cronies to call for a quorum to ensure no business gets done. The one old crone who claimed to have called for a quorum is not a member of the House and had on phony credentials. She got up in a UPC meeting and proudly told how she trips people on their way to the mike.

New delegates are already disgusted. They had no idea they were coming to a "press conference" and were hoping to get some of their important questions answered, but with the Executive Board members asking puffball questions that soon to be ex-Secretary McGuire spent lots of quality time responding to.

So now we see just how easy it is to run to mammoth organizations. Not only is Weingarten President of the AFT, she's the President of UFT (NYC local). She's a dynamic speaker, after all she spent minimal time in the classroom and is a lawyer by training, so........

While I'm thrilled the charter teachers realize that trying to do this job without a union is to be exploited, why did this acknowledgement have to take place at the House of Delegates meeting without members being notified? The only business that's been done in this House all year were some initiatives that CORE brought up back in February. We've had cancelled meetings, quorum calls and chaning the agend to make sure most of the delegates leave in disgust.

Unfortunately, I think Madame President and her new crew will sweep the elections once again.

So what happens if CIVITAS decides not to recognize the union or just gets rid of their charter and opens up under another umbrella? Will those brave teachers lose their jobs?

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 1:01 PMBy: Stewart needs to exercise... her brain! National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Marilyn is paid to THINK, PLAN and ACT for the betterment of the classroom teachers and promote better working conditions, especially those in neighborhood schools.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 2:23 PMBy: 7th grader National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates I would be honestly shocked if there was a kid in my class who couldn't win a debate with the entire current CTU leadership.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 3:40 PMBy: Anom1 National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Any one have word on what the Noble Network will do now that CICS teachers are trying to unionize? After all, Mike Milkie did say that he "would close down all the public schools and re-open them as charters".

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 5:11 PMBy: A VERY disgruntled delegate National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates The meeting last night was a complete joke! No business was completed and when a few delegates were actually able to speak, their concerns regarding school closures, the payroll debacle (CPS keeping 5 days of our pay until we leave the system), pension, and CPS's new ridiculous middle school endorsement policy were ignored/dodged/dismissed by Marilyn, Randi, and Mary McGuire.

New delegates are quickly learning that they do not have a true voice under the current leadership.

As to Alexander's question about Randi's motives: it was clear to anyone watching that she's just as shady and out of touch with members' needs as Marilyn is. What makes her scarier in my eyes is that she can actually put together a coherent sentence and is a vibrant public speaker. She was there to rally the troops and make it seem like the various unions she and Marilyn head up are working for their members. Her condescending responses to the few questions she answered showed that she, like Marilyn, assume that the members don't really know what is going on. They both tag-teamed in response to a question about the TAP program and merit pay. They wanted to spin these concessions they made to both CPS and the NY school system to seem like they were good for members. TAP is going to open the door to merit pay...Just watch!!

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 5:26 PMBy: Confused National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates While I understand that any new union is a good thing, I don't get why our union is spending so much time and effort working for a group of people that have cost the CTU so many jobs in recent years. By law, charters cannot join the CTU, so it doesn't add to our membership in terms of $$$ or numbers.

It makes me think of the safety speech flight attendants give before a plane takes off. "People travelling with children, put on your OWN oxygen mask before you assist the child." You take care of yourself first so that you can make sure you are able to help those that need you.

Why doesn't our union try working for OUR members? They could build OUR numbers by regaining some confidence in our union. Then, once we have our own act together, help the charters unionize???

Too many CTU members have been displaced from their schools and have lost their jobs. Too many CTU members have lost faith in their union. Please Marilyn, fix the CTU first.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 6:57 PMBy: Danny National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates First, I didn't attend the HoD meeting, so I can't report what happened there.

I wonder that any delegate was surprised by Randi Weingarten's presence, since it was announced in the meeting reminder notice all delegates received the week before the meeting. If you've been in the HoD for any length of time, you'll know that when there's a VIP speaker, the agenda gets moved around and pesky little items like member questions and concerns get pushed aside.

I disagree with the position taken by CSDU (and posted above by John M). The fact that the legislation creating charter schools forbade the CTU (local union) from organizing them shows the legislature's intent. It's a risky gambit doing as you suggest and organizing as a separte unit under the CTU--and would certainly have brought a law suit.

It's a victory for the union movement that these schools have voted to organize a union. They will still be affiliated with us through the IFT. It isn't fair to blame Marilyn for state legislation that was enacted even before she took office. (There's so many other things one can legitimately blame her for doing/not doing.)

Anyone have a report on what Randi actually said?

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 7:16 PMBy: charters sponsor WTTW?! National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates How do charter school get to sponsor programs on WTTW? i just heard WTTW acknowledge in their TV ad the support of a charter school--I did not get the name, but the female announcer stated support form -----charter school. How do they get money for this? if a real public school did this, the Board would go after the principal. ! Even if this charter is 'fundraising,' they should be fundraising for hteir school.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 4:05 AMBy: George N Schmidt National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates By the way, Alexander, if you want a photograph of Randi from THE EVENT, just ask. We also have an hour of video.

Love and kisses,

The Staff of Substance and Substancenews.net

Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 7:52 AMBy: 1.04 National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates On The Head


Dear Cermak road well put. I especially like this; “It's not my habit to comment on internal union members, as I am not a member of one. However, I do have to ask what Ms. Stewart is supposed to do to hold Daley, Huberman, et al accountable?’

For far too long we have been involved in a Cult of Personality for which the above mentioned people are just the current targets of our rage. I remember when Ben Willis and Daley the first were blamed way
Back in 1968!
Some times I think this a tactic of the powerful, to direct our rage towards people and not towards
situations that might be curable if the right buttons were pushed. I am sure all the above mentioned
are really concerned how we feel about them .
Our union not only goes along with this waste of time and fury but plays right into this
Useless game of assigning blame. Instead of blaming the Mayor, even if he is guilty, we need to
Develop direct divert and change our direction to the protection of the MEMBERSHIP.
I can think of many ways to do this. But first and foremost is to end the popularity contest.
We will loose that one every time as you put it so well:

“ I'm not even sure that parents of students in CPS is a majority of the voting public anymore. It could be a CTU strike could be called, and it wouldn't outrage the majority of the voters, these days. After all, if your children or young adults are attending a private school, or a charter school or you don't have children or young adults in your home, what do you care if the teachers strike?

We have not gone on strike in over 20 years. Some of our younger teachers were not even born before the last one in 1987 ! I think your assessment has some truth but
Any strike would still be big news.
We should pledge not to call a general strike, local job actions would be in our best interest reserved for situations where the Membership is in direct danger of physical
Or mental harm.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 11:15 PMBy: Jim Cavallero National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Yes it's a good thing that these charters are going to unionize. The problem was this "celebration" was done during a meeting of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) House of Delegates (HOD) meeting. It took up about two hours of our meeting. By the time we started our meeting half the deegates had left. When a delegate made a motion that asked CTU to provide transparency about officers and field rep salary and benefits a quorum was called for by one of President Marilyn Stewart's hacks. Bang bang goes the gavel! We don't have a quorum, meeting adjourned.

This is the strategy of our leadeship. Waste as much time and bore people so they will leave half way through the meeting. New business is always left until the end of the meeting. Then if a motion is made or a question is asked that our leadership doesn't like they call for a quorum or motion to adjourn. None of our issues, and we have many issues in CTU, never get addressed. Randi Weingarten should have hung around for that. But since she was part of the strategy what would she care. She effectively talked her way around a question about merit pay.

People, especially non-delegate teachers and school employees, should come and sit in the visitor section at our HOD meetings. They would be appalled at the lack of democracy in the CTU. Members would be appalled at how their dues money is wasted every month. We have close to 800 delegates who get a $45 stipend for attending meetings. That's roughly $36,000 per meeting plus what we pay to meet at Plumbers hall since we don't have our own meeting place. All that money every month and no business gets done. It is truly a shame.

Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 3:42 PMBy: Question National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates When did Stewart make the remarks about 7th grade boys and breasts? Is there a video or transcript of these words?

Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 8:57 PMBy: Stewart Sold Out the Union! National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates With Stewart lying down and going along with the Daley and Chicago Commerce Club Playbook, I can't think anyone who would want to vote for her other than you Danny!

Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 1:21 AMBy: George N Schmidt National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Before the dignitaries entered the union meeting, I was on the media platform taking photographs when CTU Financial Secretary Mark Ochoa asked me to wait until the special order of business about the charter organizing began. Ochoa claimed that media wasn't supposed to be covering the meeting, which he claimed was "private."

In addition to working as a reporter, I'm also a delegate, recently elected by the CTU retired members to a three-year term in the House of Delegates. Prior to my election, I had not attended too many meetings of the House, having to rely on other peoples' reports. It had become clear by this school year that part of Marilyn Stewart's strategy was to eliminate the House of Delegates meetings. She either does this by canceling the meetings (most recently, October 2008 and March 2009) or by filibustering in her "President's Report" for an hour or more, than having one of her minions call for a quorum or for adjournment as soon as some real business is introduced or begins to be discussed. That's precisely what happened Wednesday night.

Ochoa told me that the media weren't supposed to be covering what he termed a "private meeting" until the special event began. Like so many things that come from the current CTU leadership, that was not true. It wasn't until later that I noticed that at least two reporters (one of them from Catalyst) had been escorted down toward the front by Rose Maria Genova, the CTU publicist. They were sitting among the delegates during the meeting.

I was wearing two hats during the meeting. I'm an elected delegate and a reporter/photographer.

I had confidence that the Substance reporters who are also delegates would get the story of the whole meeting as accurately as possible, I concentrated on following the meeting and taking photographs during the charter school organizing event.

Our report (now up with photographs at www.substancenews.net) is complete about the whole meeting, including the fact that Marilyn Stewart has been canceling or ending meetings of the House of Delegates in order to avoid any accountability for her own actions.

There are several examples from Wednesday's meeting, and my confidence is growing that coverage will improve.

I told Mark Ochoa (after I agreed to wait on taking additional photographs) that the CTU should post a video of the entire meeting on its Web site every month. I also think the CTU should make available the stenographer's transcript which is kept of every meeting. Right now, as I told Ochoa, the CTU Web site (www.ctunet.com) is a joke, but the joke is on the members. With CTU dues about to exceed $1,000 per year for teacher members (including the lowest paid substitute teachers), there is growing demand for more professional information (and much more transparency) from the union leadership. Marilyn Stewart has been especially dishonest and evasive, but given both the technology and the growing discontent among the members, her administration cannot continue to carry on like this for much longer. There is something major about union dues breaking the $1,000 per year point, especially given that CTU does not maintain a strike fund (which is why many unions have relatively high dues).

The real question Wednesday night was not whether CTU should be organizing charter school teachers (while opposing the expansion of charters here in Chicago and everywhere else), but why CTU is not demanding the end of the Amendatory Act. That's the 1995 law that gave Mayor Daley dictatorial control over CPS, mandated ruthless privatization, and barred CTU from representing charter school workers. There was a lot said about how now the three charter schools have to "negotiate" a contract for their little local. If they had been able to join CTU, the would have had a contract the moment they were certified as a group within the bargaining unit.

That is what would happen as soon as the Amendatory Act is abolished in Illinois.

Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 2:53 PMBy: xian from CORE National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Looking at the pay schedule, my understanding is this:

Because the pay dates got pushed back by a week, we there is that window where in order to not have a gap in our pay, we need to fill it with our deferred pay. That creates the situation you refer to.

The biggest issue is that the Board unilaterally decided to keep our money for a week longer on EVERY check, even at the same time that they are spending millions of dollars to automate everything (which should allow them to pay us earlier, not later).

I fail to understand why we as professional teachers are expected to just let the Board keep our money (and the interest it earns) for free out of the kindness of our hearts with no compensation of any kind.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm just going off the literature handed out by the union--we used to get paid on one Friday and now we get the same check one week later. If I rent you my place and you promise to pay me rent every first of the month, but--despite having the money--you decide to pay me on the 8th so you can collect interest on it, I'm going to have a problem with it.

I also fail to understand why every time we ask this vital, honest question, the union leadership--bless their giving hearts--becomes combative and says that the person asking "doesn't know what they are talking about".

I have fielded these questions almost daily at school since this situation surfaced. I am able to answer reasonably and cordially with no condescension. And I'm just a random teacher, I don't understand why the union leadership in all of their experience and brilliance cannot do the same.

Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 7:54 PMBy: 1.04 National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Xian

thank you

Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 7:59 PMBy: Danny National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates 1.04 and xian

The Board claims that the alignment of the payroll cycles is "consistent with the collective bargaining agreements between the Board of Education and the labor organizations representing Board employees."

For the Chicago Teachers Union, the relevant citation is Article 36 Section 2.3 which reads: Effective on or after July 1, 2007, the BOARD shall place all PSRPs on the same payroll cycle as teachers. The contract was ratified with the approval of 57% of those voting on September 10, 2007.

It is nearly universal (with the exception, perhaps, of day laborers) for an employer to "hold back" wages for at least one week. For example, if I worked Monday through Friday this week, I should be paid one week's wages at the end of my workday Friday. But, my employer won't know that I actually worked all my time until the end of my workday Friday. Because of the statutory deductions and recordkeeping regulations, my employer can't possibly cut me a check at the end of my shift Friday, so they tell me instead that they will "hold back" my wages for one week, and I'll be paid the next Friday.

That's how it works with most employers, and that's how it worked with the Board of Education until this month.

It boggles the mind that, before the process was automated, payroll clerks could accomplish the same task--the same recordkeeping--by hand in just one week. Computerized payroll greatly simplified the calculations and work of the clerks so they could finish their work faster.

Until the Board (mis)implemented the PeopleSoft system.

Now they claim that with just one day for school clerks to send information to central office, there is no room for error. Yet, errors under PeopleSoft have been legion. And so, the Board now needs an extra week to process payroll. Beginning this month, they are holding us back two weeks, instead of one. (I'm not sure how widespread this practice is.)

While I don't like it any better than most people, it may not be a bad thing if it cuts down the number of errors CPS makes on payroll checks every week.

After this initial switchover, the only difficulty will be for new hires. A teacher who begins work on September 2nd this year will not receive a paycheck until the 25th.

1.04 asks why we are paying ourselves from our own summer money. The alternative would be to go a week without pay this spring (that is, waiting 3 weeks for a regular 2-week paycheck). The Board probably thought that would cause an even greater uproar from teachers than paying them early from deferred pay.

(Actually, for me the most odious provision in the 2003-2007 contract was putting everyone on extended pay. Frankly, I had managed for 10 years without it, and I would like to go back to receiving all my earnings during the school year. Most teachers, I understand, like being on extended pay.)

As far as the Board holding out these 5 days until we retire, that has always been the case. It's just now that there are 10 days' pay. Again, nearly all employers hold back for at least one week. You are never settled up with your employer until you resign or retire.

Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 8:17 PMBy: xian from CORE National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Danny: Thanks for those points. Yes, you are right that instantaneous pay has never been practical--although with an actual working electronic system, it would actually be quite possible.

I was actually also referring to your second point--that uncompensated deferred pay is an abomination and I lack your conviction that most teachers like it. I've met few teachers who would rather have their pay extended, and it's really not the issue anyway-- there's no reason why it couldn't be optional like it is for some administrative positions.

Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 8:13 PMBy: Why so defensive, Danny? National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates Some commenters are upset by this: When did Stewart make the remarks about 7th grade boys and breasts? Is there a video or transcript of these words?

Well, big whoop-dee-doo! If this is the type of thing you want to assail Marilyn on, then she'll probably sail on to a third term next year.

Better yet, for those who don't understand her point, perhaps you really do need the middle school endorsement classes to understand the minds of young adolescents.

Guess what? I'm the PARENT of a CPS 7th grade boy, and I don't appreciate your attitude or Stewart's. I am familiar with the minds of young adolescents, and I think they deserve the same respect as 7th grade boys. I doubt Stewart (or you, Danny) would have replied in that way about a comment about young girls.

I'm concerned about Stewart's remarks because I am a parent and I care about how she speaks about the children in the system. If she talks about kids that way, how must she speak about the teachers she supposedly represents?

Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 10:42 PMBy: Say NO to Stewart National Union Head Visits CTU Delegates These are new times and there are new obstacles. The Stewart way is not the way.