ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter August 24, 2012 8:16AM
CTU president Karen Lewis at news conference outside Chicago Public Schools headquarters, 125 S. Clark St., Wednesday, August 22, 2012. | John H. White~Sun-Times
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Updated: August 24, 2012 8:06PM
Chicago Teachers Union officials will not file a 10-day intent-to-strike notice Friday or Saturday, clearing the runway for Chicago Public Schools to start on time Sep. 4, officials said Friday.
Such a notice would have to be filed by Saturday for the union to preserve its right to strike on the opening day of classes for most students in the nation?s third-largest school system. The notice allows the union to strike anytime after a 10-day heads-up to CPS officials.
?We are not serving a 10-day notice today or tomorrow,? the CTU?s attorney, Robert Bloch, told the Chicago Sun-Times. ?The
bargaining process is ongoing. At this point, there?s no reason to serve that notice and commence that process.?
But issuing that notice, and commencing a strike, is still possible after classes begin, Bloch said. Asked if the union viewed the threat of a strike coming after schools opened as more disruptive strategically, Bloch said, ?The union?s objective is to get a contract, not to create a disruption.?
Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Jean-Claude Brizard sought to find common ground between the sides in a statement he issued Friday.
?The Chicago Teachers Union and the school district agree: school must and will start on time with the full school day on Sept. 4, just as school started on time for Track E students on August 13,? Brizard said in the statement. ?Just as our teachers and 140,000 students are already working hard at their desks, we will continue to work hard at the bargaining table to ensure that every student will be able to stay in the classroom every single day of this school year.?
To kick off what would be Chicago?s first teacher strike since 1987, Lewis must issue a 10-day notice and members of the union?s House of Delegates must set a strike date ? something they could theoretically do at their next meeting on Thursday.
CTU President Karen Lewis told reporters Wednesday, hours before the House of Delegates gave her the sole authority to issue a 10-day notice at her discretion, that the parties remained far apart on key issues including pay and extra raises tied to experience and credentials.
A seemingly promising 11th-hour longer-day deal that preserved Mayor Rahm Emanuel?s signature longer-day initiative, she said, was a bust so far, and being executed ?haphazardly? ? a statement that took some district officials by surprise.
Teachers union officials revealed their decision to hold off on a 10-day notice after being informed that Emanuel?s office was bringing in new people to join bargaining sessions that have languished since November.
A fact-finder who was unable to resolve the dispute in July called the relationship between the two sides ?toxic.?
Bloch said the parties plan to meet Friday, over the weekend, and ?regularly if not daily from here on out.?
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday that Emanuel?s office plans to become much more personally involved in the labor negotiations, but Lewis on Friday questioned whether that would be effective.
She made the comments while she and CTU officers passed out leaflets to the public at the 95th Street stop on the CTA Red Line.
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