PACT: ProActive Chicago Teachers and School Employees

CTU Delegate issues

January 2010

Dear Delegate,

Marilyn Stewart sent the letter on the right to all CPS principals, urging management to snoopervise delegates and keep campaign visits and literature out of schools until April.  It is incomprehensible that a "union leader" would try to enlist the aid of management against its own members to thwart a democratic union election.  She has gone so far as to reprimand delegates, in writing, who have held such meetings and has even written to their principals citing their “inappropriate” behavior.

We wanted you to be aware of PACT’s demand that Stewart immediately retract her letters to delegates and principals and provide a clarification of members’ legal rights in a union election.   Our law firm has sent the letter (on reverse), stating that if this is not done, we will be forced to seek injunctive relief in federal court due to these blatant violations of federal labor election laws.  We will keep you posted.

Sincerely,

PACT Campaign Team:

Deborah Lynch for CTU President

Josephine Perry for Vice President

Tanner Elementary

Mary Ellen Sanchez for Recording Secretary

Byrne Elementary

Maureen Callaghan  for Financial Secretary

Clerk

Kevin Condon for Area Vice President

Stevenson Elementary

Mary Edmonds for Area Vice Predisent

McDade Elementary

Danny Van Over for Area Vice President

Allen Bearden, Campaign Co-Chair

Cynthia Heywood, Campaign Co-Chair

Vanderpoel Elementary

September 2009

The September House meeting created even more delegate animosity for the process and the people currently in charge of the CTU.  The venue for the meeting was changed to the private Operating Engineers Local 399 building (the arch enemies of the Local 143 School Operating Engineers union CTU is supposed to be in solidarity with).  In addition to the change of site, the Stewart team made additional changes to further silence CTU delegates at these meetings.  First, they refused to allow Delegates to pass out literature in front of the meeting, a decades long tradition in CTU, with the shaky claim that it was "private property".  Many delegates slunk down the block to pass out literature, but the PACT team and Substance editor George Schmidt refused to be cowed.  (CTU later called the police and had Mr. Schmidt removed from the premises.)  Second, the Stewart team unilaterally (and in opposition to its own House of Delegates' meeting rules), decided to eliminate the standing microphone system and replace it with their own people walking mics over to people with their hands raised.  Too bad if they pretended not to see your hand.  The meeting itself was full of ramblings in the president's report, a 45 minute lecture from two AFT staffers about supporting charter school teachers, and a quorum call.  All of which added up to yet another House meeting where delegates were silenced, talked down to and lectured at, with no opporutnity for a question period and no opportunity to make a motion.  While the turnout for this first meeting of the 2009-2010 school year appeared good, the frustration and fury expressed by delegates after the meeting over the total lack of time for member issues and concerns to be addressed, suggest that attendance at future meetings will continue to diminish as it has over the past couple of years.

June 2009

CTU officers were forced to provide Delegates with copies of officer and administrative staff contracts due to the vote of the majority of Delegates at the May meeting.  These contracts indicate that hundreds of thousands of dues dollars are going into perks such as AIG annuities, pensionable expense accounts, vacation buy-back schemes and more.  They have even negotiated their severance pay of three weeks salary for every year worked at CTU, even if unelected by the membership!  The CTU budget was ultimately passed at the June meeting, but, many delegates believe, only because they caved to the pressures and provided copies (though unsigned) of their contract to House members.

May 2009 

The CTU budget was presented to the House of delegates, as provided in the CTU Constitution.   As usual, no questions were allowed.  Delegates voted on a motion to amend the CTU By-Laws by requiring officer and staff contracts be presented when the CTU budget gets voted on in June.  Though a majority of Delegates voted "yes" on this motion, because it was a change to the By-Laws, it required a two-thirds majority vote.  Nevertheless, though PACT has fought to encourage the House to demand the contracts in recent years, this was the first time since Stewart took office that a majority of Delegates made this demand.

April 2009 

The April meeting was preempted by a 2-hour presentation on the efforts of several charter teachers to organize a union.  Union leaders, including the national AFT president Randi Weingarten, attended this session.  After the lengthy presentation, at about 6:26 p.m. when the regular business meeting began, a motion for a quorum was made and the meeting adjourned with no business getting accomplished.

March, 2009

There was no March meeting due to Delegate training meetings that were held in area high schools.

February 2009

No real action plan was presented at this meeting.  Very little union business was conducted, as the meeting stretches out with reports long on wind and short on substance.  No questions or motions from the floor were allowed as a quorum vote was called and the meeting adjourned.  This tactic to prevent tough questions or motions from the House has been common throughout this school year.   Extend the reports then call for a quorum after most Delegates have had to leave.

January 2009

The Stewart team was shamed into throwing its support behind a rally to oppose the announced school turnarounds and school closings.  The only item of business was a motion to support the rally at the January Board of Education meeting made by activist delegates who were outraged that the Stewart team had no plan of action to oppose these efforts.  The motion received overwhelming support.

December 2008

Once again very little in the way of business that would help CTU members was addressed.  The House did approve the Legislative Committee's agenda which is a laundry list of legislative wishes which CTU has been completely unsuccessful over the past 4 years.  A motion to support the 5-year strike against the Congress Hotel was also presented, though Stewart has rarely, if ever, mentioned this strike or encouraged CTU members to take action over the past several years.  As always, attempts to make motions or ask questions were quashed by an earl quroum call with dozens of Delegates at the mikes seeking to get information for their members back in the schools. Despite the fact that CPS is scheduled to "turn around" up to 20 "underperforming" schools this winter, there was no recommended action from CTU administration and a proposal from Senn delegate Jess Sharkey to co-sponsor a hearing on school closings and chater schools was referred to committee.

November 2008

Once again a handful of items for action was presented in an effort to pretend that the CTU is really doing anything.  A motion to acknowledge Barack Obama, a motion honoring career service/paraprofessionals and a motion to approve CTU organizing at least one contract school were put forth for votes.  No motions were proposed to address the real problems CTU members face evey day in our schools.  Sadly, there was no discussion or action proposed to prevent the next round of 20 "underperforming" schools being closed/turned0around in 2009, few questions were allowed and no question period where Delegates could raise motions on pressing issues.

October 2008

Meeting was unilaterally cancelled by Stewart in what many delegates believed was a blatant effort to circumvent the House on several issues to be voted on at the October meeting. 

September 2008

CTU Budget Meeting Debacle.   Delegates who attended the June meeting where the CTU budget was voted on know about the contentious budget vote.  Many were concerned enough about the veracity of the vote count that they supported the proposed change in counting future division votes at the September House meeting.  Congratulations to Kelly H.S. Delegate Eric Skalender for a good motion. Yet many delegates did not realize that the meeting was ended illegally, in violation of the CTU Constitution. Roberts Rules of Order were just thrown out in the midst of the chaos.   The “results” of the division vote were announced.  Then Stewart said “This meeting is over” without 1.) a motion to adjourn; 2.) a second, or 3.) a vote of the House.   In acting in this authoritarian manner, Stewart denied Delegates the right to a roll call vote on this critical and urgent issue, as CTU sinks deeper and deeper into financial debt.  This is the point I was trying to make at the September meeting but my microphone was turned off to silence me.

Roberts Rules of Order (RRO) are Dead at CTU.  According to our Constitution, our meetings are to be governed by RRO.  The Stewart team’s entire focus in House meetings is to silence any attempt to bring information they don’t want out and opposing views.  It is illegal to turn off the microphones, period, as Points of Order and Points of Information are permissible at any time of the meeting.  If the mics are shut off, Delegates cannot exercise these rights afforded them by RRO.  Further, the parliamentarian’s advice is simply that--advice.  When there is a Challenge to the Ruling of the Chair, it is the House’s right to decide whether to support the ruling of the Chair, or hear the member’s concern.  In my September effort, I made a Motion for a “Point of Order,” which is a motion to right a procedural wrong. I received a second and should have had a right to speak to my motion. I wanted to point out the wrong that occurred in the budget vote, and propose a “right”.  Whether or not delegates wanted to hear that, consider a roll call vote, or vote me down was its right, not Stewart’s and her paid parliamentarian. 

Though absolutely not a fan of Mr. Dallas, he too had a RRO right to speak when he was mentioned by name in the meeting.  His microphone was also cut off, preventing him from responding.  Here’s a 38 year member, who has been publicly vilified, and subjected to a secret kangaroo court.  Stewart has refused to tell Delegates directly and specifically what is going on in the Stewart-Dallas wars, but the man had a right to be heard.  We delegates, even if we don’t agree with the member or the member’s views, should insist on having the rules we are supposed to be operating under followed.  To remain silent is to be as complicit as Stewart. 

September Meeting.  At that meeting Stewart got away with not telling the House what was going on with Dallas ; not answering questions about a suspicious budget vote; her continued refusal to reveal officer and staff contracts, to address the missing $5.4 million, or the terms of the additional $3 million loans. (Despite telling Delegate Lou Pyster he can see to see contracts, he has a letter from her in writing denying his 3-year quest to view them.). And, no motions were allowed in the question period.

CTU House Meeting Reports 2007-08

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