Chicago teachers recently vote to go on strike, as ongoing negotiations with the City of Chicago seem to have broken
down. The 90% of teachers voting yes, gave the union more than enough votes to
pass the 75% threshold required for strikes.
Rahm Emanuel, current Mayor of Chicago and former Chief of
Staff for President Obama, offered the teachers a contract that guaranteed a
two percent pay raise this year, but did not guarantee anything in the future.
The teachers union on the other hand, is asking for a contract
that contains a 30% pay raise. This pay raise is derived from previously
forgone wage increases but also compensation for an extended workday.
Unions are not allowed to start picketing until August, if
negotiations are not agreed upon by then, we could see teachers protesting in
the streets of Chicago instead of teaching in classrooms.
In a recent press conference Emanuel failed to comment on
the subject, but will most certainly do so in the near future.
According to this report, the
average teacher salary in Chicago is $71,236.