Speech of Marilyn Stewart of the UPC to the June 2, 2010 meeting of the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates
[Editor's Note: The following speech was delivered by Marilyn Stewart, UPC candidate for president of the Chicago Teachers Union, to the union's June 2, 2010, House of Delegates meeting. The two candidates for president each got five minutes to speak. Substance again asked the United Progressive Caucus for a copy of the Stewart speech and for a contact our reporters could call regularly as we cover the final week of the election. Since March 2010, Substance reporters have tried to cover this story accurately despite the fact that Marilyn Stewart and the UPC seem to have their campaign office at 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 400, without any additional campaign location except in cyberspace. On June 4, 2010, Substance against asked CTU spokesman Rosemaria Genova for the UPC contact, phone number, and location. We will report the reply when we receive it. The following speech was posted on the UPC website on June 3, 2010, and is reprinted from there. We have no way of verifying whether the following words are those actually delivered. George N. Schmidt, Editor, Substance].
My Fellow CTU Members:
The primary is over…it’s election time. Nine days from today you will make a decision that will change your lives.
That’s not exaggeration and it’s not campaign talk.
CTU President Marilyn Stewart spoke to the media following her remarks to the February 25, 2009 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.The choice you make on June 11th will literally determine the salaries you bring home; the number of students in your classes — and, indeed, in some cases, whether or not you still have a job at all!
We are in a fight for our professional lives. They are threatening to cut our salaries. They are threatening to increase class sizes.
They are threatening our pension. They are threatening to increase our health care costs. They are threatening us with forced unpaid furlough days and they are threatening huge lay-offs.
So what this election boils down to is quite clear.
That is, which of the two candidates, and which of the candidates teams is best prepared to take on Mayor Daley, CEO Ron Huberman and the Illinois legislature in this fight for our future.
The answer is just as clear. My team, the United Progressive Caucus.
Karen Lewis and her two year old coalition of community groups have no experience whatsoever in negotiating any union contract. No experience whatsoever…None. Nada. Zero. When it comes to the reality of dealing with CPS and this Mayor….they are completely unprepared.
In our April 7th forum, Karen Lewis told us how she would deal with this Mayor. She said she would look at her caller ID and if the call came from Mayor Daley, she wouldn’t answer it. If that’s what passes for CORE’s idea of how to negotiate, it’s no wonder they talk so easily about not being afraid to take you out on strike. Don’t they know that when you strike you lose your paycheck? Don’t they know that when you strike you lose your health insurance? Don’t they know that when you strike you lose this entire contract?
Karen, the UPC has known that a strike is always a LAST resort, not just another rally.
The fact is, this mayor, this Board of Education and this CEO would love nothing more than to be up against the Lewis/CORE inexperience.
Even the media can see it. As Walter Jacobson of CBS 2-TV news said recently: “The bosses downtown are rooting for the rookies…to get them to the bargaining table and eat them alive.”
And I think you can tell a lot about a person by how they handle themselves when given a chance to lead.
As a self-proclaimed union militant, Karen Lewis had an opportunity to make and influence CTU policy as an elected officer and member of the CTU Executive Board in 2006-2007. How did she lead? She missed 7 out of the 9 meetings. When she had a chance to vote on the financial reforms I put forward — which saved CTU hundreds of thousands of dollars — she campaigned and voted against them.
Maybe she can explain her concept of leadership to the dozens of angry members who have called me because their salaries and personal information are now on the Board’s web site. All because Karen and CORE thought the best way to get information was to file a lawsuit against the Board.
She talks a lot about social justice and community involvement. But as much as I care about both…CTU belongs to you the members…not the community. The community is not responsible for protecting your contract and your jobs. That is the job of the President!
As we change with the times we must not set aside our common sense. It’s not OK to risk everything when the going gets tough.
On July 1st CTU will be at the bargaining table on your behalf. You want a team at the table that knows what they are doing. You don’t want a group of amateurs to do a professional job. Don’t give the Mayor what he wants.
I, and my team, ask for your vote on June 11th. This is not a game. Because this is about you and your wellbeing we cannot risk inexperience.
I’m Marilyn Stewart. I’m proud to be your President, and I thank you for your support.
Comments:
By: Andrew Martinek
It's true. June 11th our choice is vital
We must decide between OLD leadership, that has allowed us to be steamrolled by management and treated those she represents in a similar manner, and NEW leadership, that has been independently doing the work of the union for the past few years.
Meanwhile, our union has been mired in scandal and tyranny to the point where it fails to function. The CORE caucus again stepped up to compensate for the lack of service by posting do-it-yourself guides for grievances and other responsibilities the union is failing to fulfill.
Of course, if we have field reps and other union employees hired on merit rather than cronyism, as CORE has pledged to do, you won't have to worry about whether or not you receive adequate union service. When all union employees only earn what teachers earn, as CORE has also pledged, we will have people committed to the job rather than padding their pensions and using our union dues to buy cars.
That alone should allow us to rebuild the $5 million surplus that was squandered in the past 6 years. A surplus that, if we still had it, would give us strength at the bargaining table. I want my money back Marilyn!
I really have to wonder if Walter Jacobson has done any research. Not that you can give much credibility to a drunk curmudgeon more interested in quid pro quo than actual reporting. Check this bit from his wikipedia entry, "On June 18, 2008, Jacobson was arrested near his home in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood for DUI charges after failing a field sobriety and Breathalyzer test."
That contract Marilyn negotiated was so well received that she refused to count the "no" votes at the house of delegates meeting and a near riot ensued. What I need now, at a time when over a dozen of my colleagues are being laid off in the name of so-called budget cuts, is leadership with integrity. All I currently receive from my union "leadership" is news about a lawsuit that won't go anywhere and a pile of lies and manipulations shoved into my school mailbox. Meanwhile, CORE refuses to take the low road. CORE runs on it's proven record of action when this union stood still and silent.
It should be obvious how I'm voting June 11th. I urge you all to join me. "The choice you make on June 11th will literally determine the salaries you bring home; the number of students in your classes — and, indeed, in some cases, whether or not you still have a job at all!"
By: John Stewart Whitfield
I, and my team?
Didn't she say my team and I?
Shouldn't one put theirself last?
And how is Ms. Porter treated on that team, there on 4th floor of Merchandise Mart?
As far as the rookies, I see CORE as having some great wise men within their rank n' file, surely ready willing and able to come forward. At first I thought CORE meant, "Congress on Racial Equality", and as we all know, it did during the time of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., when the civil rights movement was in its hey day. How appropriate!
As far as changing with the times, and having just read Chomsky's "Is facism coming to America?"(June Issue of Progressive Magazine), be careful, and try to not be a reactionary.
The CTU, including under UPC leadership has had a "Militant" fund, at least during the days of Jackie Vaughn, and as you know it was a truly progressive caucus.
Please don't use these "Union words" as scare words. Strike, for example. Since we
are in this recession, please don't either of you concede anything to them. Too much has been conceded already.
Walter Jacobson should interview the teacher at our school, who has been there for 32 years, and they are trying to say he is a PAT 3, and let him go. Can you imagine that?
Please bring that grievance this Wednesday when you visit our school, as I gave the grievance authorization to my field representative at last Wednesday's House meeting.
Your articulation skills have greatly improved since I first heard you go to the microphone at a house meeting. You have surpassed the mayor. It is some of what is in the speech, that loses me. Who writes your speeches?
Nonetheless, I have great respect for both of you, and know that you will unite once all is said and done. "Good night and good luck."