New Caucus Campaigns To Lead Fractured Chicago Teachers Union

CHICAGO — Things are about to heat up in the campaign for control of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Following the CTU's in-person learning boycott — which led to four days of lost pay for rank-and-file teachers — and union president Jesse Sharkey's decision not to seek re-election, the 25,000-member labor union is a powerhouse divided.

Last month, Members First, a caucus of CTU members who say they're fed up with current leadership's lack of transparency in political spending and the depletion of cash reserves from union dues, announced a slate of candidates aiming to oust the status quo Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) in the May 20 election.

Now, a new CTU caucus has gone public with plans to seek control of the politically fractured union in the election.

Founding members of REAL — which stands for "Respect, Educate, Advocate and Lead" — have not announced a slate of candidates yet. But the group has released a fledgling campaign platform that takes aim at current CTU leaders who have "lost touch with the difficulties that educators face in our schools."

The REAL caucus's list of priorities take not-so-subtle jabs at how the CTU has operated under Sharkey and vice president Stacy Davis Gates — who also serves as vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is running to replace Sharkey as president.

"Under REAL leadership ... no officer will ever take home two salaries, such as an additional one from the Illinois Federation of Teachers or the CTU Foundation," according to the REAL caucus's first public statements.

The list of priorities also includes a pledge to "never bargain without rank & file present," to increase transparency on how the CTU bargaining team is selected, and to establish "open bargaining" that would allow any member to observe negotiations between the union and public school officials.

"Truly, the reason many of us have broken from CORE is we see how business unionism & union bureaucracy have crept into CORE's leadership style. We are trying to propose an alternative that gets us back on the path of REAL rank & file unionism," REAL founding member and special education teacher Katie Osgood posted on Twitter.

Unlike current CTU leaders Sharkey and Davis Gates, who have heavily invested union funding to support political action committees and political war chests controlled by former House Speaker Michael Madigan, REAL caucus members have pledged that investing in electoral politics will not be the primary focus of their political operation.

"We are strong proponents of social justice unionism including common-good bargaining but we feel a union that is disconnected from membership and operates in secret does not have the power to actually win the schools our students deserve," Osgood, a former CORE supporter, posted on Twitter.

With three factions squaring off in the May election, REAL caucus members — who are expected to announce their slate of candidates this week — say they've got a real chance at pulling off an upset.

"We are not here to play spoiler in this election. We are here to win! CTU rules state that if nobody gets 50% of the vote, there is a runoff, so the winner has to get more than half the union’s support regardless," the caucus posted on Twitter.

In 2010, the CORE caucus — under former CTU president, the late Karen Lewis — came to power as the result of a runoff election win.