Continued push for 'financial transaction tax'... with hearing having been held in Springfield and scheduled for June 7 in Chicago!
While the news reports once again told the Chicago Teachers Union's 28,000 members and the public that CTU President Karen Lewis was again preparing to accept a losing contract with the Chicago Board of Education, there was other news, less emphasized. For reasons unknown, the union's leadership, at their recent press conference, did not mention the continued push for the "LaSalle St. Transaction Tax" to increase revenues for public work in Chicago.
Yet the hearings in Springfield brought out major issues that have already been addressed elsewhere in other places where major financial trading continues, and at least brought out one of the many revenues that might increase the revenues of Chicago's public schools. And even though the leadership of the CTU has been most lately urging the members to once again again march on City Hall, etc. etc., on June 8 there will be a major hearing, in Chicago, on a tax that could bring in a great deal of revenue to Chicago -- and to CPS if properly rendered. And there was already legislation before both the House and Senate in Springfield before the General Assembly session ended.
So... in addition to ignoring the fact that Chicago property taxes are among the lowest in the six-county greater Chicago area, some are also trying to ignore other revenue options that may help. The "Who? What? When? and Where?" are public information. The only question as of this report is "Why" some are trying to ignore those two realities...
Comments:
By: George Schmidt
'Losing contract'... again
Precisely. Those who fantasize and ignore history are doomed to repeat it, this time, to quote a philosopher, as farce. Remember how the "non monetary" stuff in the new contract was supposed to be so good -- until people tried to enforce the paperwork and bullying articles only to discover that the Boss had a loophole that resulted in the current reality. It wasn't until some time after we were told that the CTU "won" the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012 that the union's members learned that the leadership had given away (among other things) the four percent pay raise that was supposed to be in the final year of the previous contract. In addition to that zero raise year (which must be blamed on the deal that ended the September 2012 strike), the fact is that the "raises" during the time of the most recent contract were the lowest in the past quarter century. That's reported in the CAFR, which I will be helping people study and learn from (again) later this month. Among the other monetary surrenders after the September 2012 "victory" was "Wellness" -- viz., CTU accepted the reductions in medical (etc) benefits, and the odious "Wellness" scam. Back in September 2012, the members were told that we had "won." As early as eleven months ago, Karen Lewis told the world, as she is wont to do straight to the media, that the union would surrender the pension pickup because, after all, we all know that CPS needs "more revenue" from Springfield (ignoring local revenues completely until that silly pile of nonsense that was handed out in the middle of the HOD meeting, which, as everyone noted, ignored local Chicago property taxes). As everyone who actually studies CPS finances knows, the revenue side of the CPS budgets has increased the past few years (more about that when we discuss it at budget study on June 23). Now, according to a faction of the CTU leadership, the members are supposed to take another loss because -- why exactly? Because there has been a deal to do all the work in Springfield, ignore local financial realities, and then wander deeper and deeper down that Yellow Brick Road of fantasy? There has been a reason why the current CTU administration has refused to have a "School Finance and Taxation" committee for three years. Fantasy, not material reality, is as dominant there as it has been since "Star Wars" and "Wizard Of Oz" became the art themes for the CTU's CUT.
By: George Cruz
Contract Push
George can you please clarify as to what you are referring when you say the CTU was preparing to accept a losing contract? The latest news I heared was that the CTU would be willing to accept a flat contract no raises but that the pension pickup is non negotiable .