Union leaders like to pitch “solidarity” among their members, but it’s often a political fiction. So it was last week when the rank-and-file of the Chicago Teachers Union rejected a union ballot question seeking a dues increase. Take that, comrade.
CTU president Stacy Davis Gates and vice president Jackson Potter told their colleagues that, while votes are still being counted, “the results seem clear—a majority of CTU members have elected not to implement the proposed dues restructuring at this time.” The memo, reported by the Chicago Policy Center, says that with some 80% of schools counted, 60% or so of members had rejected the plan.
The union tries to explain away the rejection by noting the CTU has been busy and that “even with 72 wins the ’96 Bulls still lost 10 games.” Why insult Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen?
The CTU, one of the most left-wing unions in the nation, had sought the restructuring to “make our dues more equitable.” But members understood the change would have meant snatching up to $800 a year more from their paychecks.