the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
May 25, 2015
Chicago Public School Board came out with its contract proposal for teachers early this month. They proposed a big pay cut: to stop paying 7% of each teacher’s salary into the pension fund and to raise the amount teachers pay for health care by 3%. Clearly, the Board intends to push teachers back, to make them accept concessions.
Clearly Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration is making a counter-attack–after being held back in part by the last Chicago teachers’ strike.
City officials are using the so-called Illinois pensions crisis as a bludgeon in the media, to try to make teachers accept concessions. What they call a crisis was created by the politicians themselves, who for 20 years spent the money supposed to go for pensions on handouts to the corporations and the banks.
What makes this attack even more deadly is that Chicago teachers and many other public workers do not pay into Social Security–their pension is their only retirement.
The union has proposed that teachers receive a 3% raise. It is calling teachers, parents, students and supporters to rally downtown at the Thompson Center on Tuesday, June 9th at 5:00 PM.
Only a fight will hold the city administration back.