CTU offers advice for fired teachers and paraprofessionals
Helping fired Chicago Public School faculty and staff members fight for their jobs and rebuild their lives, the Chicago Teachers Union hosted a meeting for them at union headquarters on Thursday, August 18, 2011. Approximately 40 teachers and PSRPs (paraprofessionals and school related personnel) attended this session, the latest CTU response to the thousands of layoffs at CPS in the past two years.
CTU staff member Joseph McDermott (rear, with hand raised) offers advice to more than 40 displaced teachers and PSRPs at the CTU offices on August 18, 2011. Substance photo by David Stone.CTU staff members offered updates on its fight to reverse arbitrary job closings by the Board of Education. The union has filed class action lawsuits, grievances, arbitration requests, and actions at the Illinois Labor Relations Board. The union has also mobilized members to speak out to the media and at Board of Education meetings and community forums.
In addition, the union has created a page on its website where CPS employees who lose their jobs can find information on “What to Do in the Event of Displacement, Honorable Dismissal, or Layoff” The URL for that (for those whose computers can't access a hotlink) is: http://www.ctunet.com/blog/what-to-do-in-the-event-of-displacement-honorable-dismissal-or-layoff .
The Thursday session also included guest speakers with information about how and when to file for unemployment insurance, and how to get help from the City of Chicago’s Displaced Worker Program in finding other employment, maintaining health insurance and protecting retirement benefits.
