CORE convention focuses on organizing for the fights ahead
Is CORE — the Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators — still the radical, fighting wing of the Chicago Teachers Union? At the third annual CORE convention, held on August 19 and August 20, 2011 in Chicago, CORE members learned that the fight has changed now that CORE members have been in the leadership of the 30,000-member Chicago Teachers Union for about a year.
Some of the participants in the CORE community organizing workshop during the 2011 CORE convention. Substance photo by David Stone.But CORE members continue to develop new tactics to fight for public education and teachers’ rights.
The convention focused on organizing for the upcoming Chicago contract negotiations (since the current collective bargaining agreement with the Chicago Board of Education expires on June 30, 2012), and on fighting layoffs, pay cuts, school closings and other actions against the unions and public education by Chicago’s new mayor, Rahm Emanuel and his newly appointed seven-member Chicago Board of Education.
CTU President Karen Lewis (who also served as CORE co-chair during the 2010 - 2011 school year) was one of the speakers on the opening day of the convention, Friday, August 19, 2011. Also on Friday, CORE’s other co-chair, Al Ramirez, led a panel discussion looking back at the previous year to analyze the group’s strengths and weaknesses, and looking ahead to identify opportunities and threats.
The four panel members — Karen Lewis (who has been President of the Chicago Teachers Union since July 1, 2010), Sarah Chambers (a Chicago elementary teacher), Jim Cavallero (a Chicago high school teacher), Kim Bowsky (a Chicago high school teacher), and Bill Lamme (also a Chicago high school teacher) — answered several questions posed by Al Ramirez (a Chicago elementary school teacher). The more than 80 CORE members who participated in the Friday event listened as the panelists answered more than a dozen questions posed by Ramirez. More details are expected to be published on the CORE website (www.coreteachers.org).
The panel was followed by a well-received approval of the CORE by-laws. The by-laws had been revised by a committee that submitted them to the CORE membership at the convention. After defeating an attempt to change the by-laws by making it illegal in CORE for staff members (including officers) of the union to serve on the 11-person CORE steering committee, the group approved the revised by laws. The by-laws are expected to be published on the CORE website. Following the by-laws discussion, Jackson Potter, CTU staff coordinator, then led a discussion of the CTU contract campaign. Two members of the newly organized CTU Organizing staff discussed how the union has been hosting school meetings to prepare union delegates and members for the current struggle over the union contract and the looming struggle for a new contract when the current contract expires on June 30, 2012.
The second day of the convention was devoted to developing tactics for the fights ahead. CORE members (including not just teachers and other Board of Education employees such as school clerks, but also retirees, community organizers, parents and others interested in Chicago’s public schools) attended a selection of workshops on the Saturday morning, August 20, 2011.
Workshop topics included three sessions to boost union activism at individual schools: “School Based Organizing,” “Parent/Community Engagement” and “Social Media” (to boost communication through Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
Three other workshops looked more at union issues: “Delegate Elections” (to help each school choose a strong union delegate); and “House of Delegates Strategy & CTU Budget Fight.”
On Saturday afternoon, CORE nominated its slate of candidates for the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund and the CORE Steering Committee. CORE steering committee elections will be held soon, with nominees being listed and voting procedures outline on the CORE website.
The issues addressed at the CORE Convention will have direct impact on teachers and schools, but some CORE members commented that little attention was given to another issue with much impact – lobbying and politics.
