Video shows spirit of CORE election campaign launching at the Haymarket in Chicago April 14, 2013... Voting in the two-way CTU election will be on May 17 in all schools
While the Chicago board of education does not have to run for election, the Chicago Teachers Union is a democratic institution, and it does have regular elections. On May 17, 2013, the CTU will hold an election in which the current leadership will stand on its record of struggle and promise of continued fightback. The Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators (CORE) held a meeting at the Haymarket Pub in the historic Haymarket district to announce its candidates. They are the incumbent officers of the C.T.U., which led the powerful 2012 strike as part of a city-wide union/community fight against the most massive school closings in U.S. history. The URL for the You Tube is: http://youtu.be/ju8iHJEm0Y8
CORE leaders at Haymarket on April 14, 2013, left to right: Al Ramirez, Kristine Mayle, Karen Lewis, Nate Goldbaum, Michael Brunson, and Jesse Sharkey.The CORE leadership slate is: Karen Lewis, President; Jesse Sharkey, Vice-President; Michael Brunson, Recording Secretary; Kristine Mayle, Financial Secretary.
This video gives the statements of the four candidates, outlining the history of the caucus and of the CTU's recent battles with CPS. Karen Lewis also mentioned the opposition running against the CORE slate: "What we are doing in CORE is a completely different kind of unionism. We have been told by other people that we are doing it wrong. They can do it better. I would say to you: you had your chances. You didn't do it better, but now you can? I don't think so." The opposition "Coalition to Save Our Union" is composed of people from both the PACT and UPC caucuses which were voted out in previous years because of the membership's disappointment with contracts they had negotiated.
Lewis ended her remarks by touching on a major problem derived from a law passed by downstate politicians years ago. "We have a very undemocratic governance of Chicago Public Schools. We have to work for an elected representative school board." She spoke in a general way of going on the political offensive: "We have to work to elect representatives that truly represent us and not the corporate business interests, and I'm asking many of you in this room to consider running for office. We cannot change it if we're waiting for somebody else to save us."
Length - 12:44
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