CTU pushes for contract deal as negotiations near 1 year mark

CHICAGO — Spring break for Chicago Public Schools clears the way for district leaders and negotiators from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to work around the clock to figure out a new contract and manage the fallout of a pension payment the city didn’t plan for.

Even as they bargain with CPS behind closed doors, the CTU lobbed a personal attack on CEO Pedro Martinez on Wednesday.

The union claims Martinez, who’s been battling Mayor Johnson and the CPS board, walked out of a meeting with the mayor, CTU president Stacy Davis Gates and School Board president Sean Harden last week.

“He stormed out and said the mayor is not my boss. Well, he got a judge to say the Board of Education is not his boss, they’re the ones who sign his contract, but I guess they’re not his boss. So we’re trying to figure out, who is his boss?” music teacher Kathryn Zamarron.

“CPS is disappointed in the manner in which CTU continues to make false claims against the District and the issues remaining on the table,” a spokesperson for CPS said in a statement.

Despite the public feud, CPS and CTU both say they’re close to an agreement on a new contract, although they’re tightlipped about how to pay for it.

Complicating negotiations is a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching staff. The city pushed for the district to cover it, warning it would blast a hole in its 2024 budget. But this week, an about-face.

A source familiar with the matter says an accounting fix could reconcile the difference, though that might not be the most transparent maneuver.

Fifteen of the city’s 50 members of City Council are demanding a say, penning a letter to Mayor Johnson asking that they weigh in. Alderman Bill Conway is among them.

“If the mayor is going to allocate $175 million in taxpayer funds, he needs to come to City Council to do that,” Conway said.

But in a Sunday appearance on WGN-TV Political Report, Alderman Jason Ervin hinted the Council doesn’t need to act.

“This is an accounting issue right now as it relates to 2024,” Ervin said.

A spokesman for the mayor’s office said if the city doesn’t receive the payment it will result in a loss of revenue, but the city will be able to manage the impact.

Noticeably absent from Wednesday’s CTU’s demonstration was union boss Stacy Davis Gates who reportedly remained at the bargaining table, given that a deal may be within reach.