US Chicago public school teachers are set to strike on April 1. But the Chicago Public Schools head would want their impending work stoppage to be put on hold when he stated on Friday that the district will postpone its controversial cost-cutting measure that affects the pension payments of teachers.
The CPS hopes that with this postponement, the labor contract process will finally reach its natural end. But the Chicago Teachers Union is determined to continue taking action which could mean the strike will be pushed through.
In a related development, CTU Vice President Jesses Sharkey said on Feb. 29 that the teachers will go on strike on April 1 should the city schools system reduce their pay by 7 percent.
According to Sharkey, the school officials have given the union a 30-day notice about its plan to discontinue its contribution that represents the teacher's pensions, which could mean that the amount will come from the teachers' paychecks.
"We think that's an outrageous violation of the way labor law works, and if they actually go through with it, you can expect our labor to prepare for an unfair labor practice strike on April 1," said Sharkey.
However, James Franczek, a city labor lawyer commented that the strike would be against the law even if the Education Labor Relations Board of the state deems that the pay cut represents an unfair labor practice.
But another CTU lawyer, Robert Bloch disagreed. "Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees may lawfully strike over unfair labor practices as a way to induce the employer to stop committing them," said Bloch.
"This would be over unfairly cutting teachers' pay in the middle of negotiations," he added.
The officials of the school district has increased the pressure on the union by means of layoffs in their effort to get a contract proposal that would replace the expired one last June.
But the CTU answered with the threat to stop working in the middle of the second semester, earlier than the time when parents may lend their support to the strike.
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