32,000 Chicago teachers vote on new contract

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ctucontract_websep11,1,2048084.story

By Carlos Sadovi | Tribune staff reporter
1:07 PM CDT, September 10, 2007

More than 32,000 Chicago Public School teachers are voting in schools today throughout the city on a proposed five-year contract that would give them 4 percent pay increases each year and a freeze on insurance costs for three years.

Teachers began voting before school started for the more than 400,000 students. Chicago Teachers Union officials said a news conference has been scheduled for Tuesday morning, when the results will be announced.


Second grade teacher Renee Elkin (left) helps Patricia Flores, a pre-k teacher's assistant, sign in to vote at Hibbard Elementary School in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood. Teachers began voting in the school library at 8 a.m. More than 90 teachers were expected to vote today. (Tribune photo by Nancy Stone / September 10, 2007)


At Lane Tech High School, 2501 W. Addison St., teachers were lined up near the school office as union officials handed out ballots that called for teachers to vote for or against the pact hammered out with Board of Education officials over a year.

The proposed plan did not include an extension of the school day as Mayor Richard Daley and school officials had sought. In exchange, union officials agreed to a five-year contract.

Teachers who voted on Monday were split on the pact, with many teachers believing wage increases did not go high enough and that the contract was too long.But for many other teachers, the five-year length of the pact meant they did not have to worry about the threat of a strike for five years.

Rick Ceh, a Lane Tech art teacher who was among the first people to vote, said he voted against the deal because the contract should not be longer than three years. Ceh, a 15-year veteran, said he expects the cost of insurance to rise after the three-year freeze ends.

FULL story at link.