Against Trump, For the Common Good: What Chicago Teachers Won in Their Latest Contract

The Chicago Teachers Union has long taken on neoliberal Democrats and won. Their latest contract is a victory against the new Trump administration, leaders say.

Kari Lydersen April 18, 2025

Last week, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) membership voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract following nearly a year of negotiations that were at times contentious with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The four-year contract represents a direct rebuke to the Trump administration’s attacks on academic freedom and immigrants, enshrining protections that the union began fighting for months before President Trump was elected.

The agreement is also a prime example of the labor strategy of bargaining for the ​“common good,” with provisions that help not only specific union members in the workplace but the broader community as a whole, at a time when such measures are especially crucial.

Union members voted by 97% to approve the contract, and the months-long negotiations showcased an impasse between the union and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. Martinez was ultimately fired by the school board in December but remains in office with a legal challenge pending. Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former CTU member, had also reportedly called on Martinez to resign.

A new 21-member school board that is half elected and half appointed by the mayor must still approve the contract later this month, but is expected to give it a green light. The cost is pegged at around $1.5 billion, which will be funded in part through redirecting Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds — property tax funding intended to benefit blighted communities but often used to subsidize development in wealthy areas.

FULL story: https://inthesetimes.com/article/chicago-teachers-union-contract-trump-sanctuary-common-good