Labor Beat posts half hour video from May 23, 2012 march and rallies
Chicago's Labor Beat has completed its first video from the historic May 23, 2012 rallies and march of Chicago Teachers Union members and their allies, joining towards the end of those at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to protest the ripoffs perpetrated by the rich against everyone else.
The front of the historic May 23, 2012 march makes its turn west on Adams St. in Chicago with CTU President Karen Lewis, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., and AFT President Randi Weingarten in the front. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Entitled "Chicago Teachers Stand Strong," the video is now available On YouTube: (http://you tu.be /SOLj6B4cF2w).
On May 23, 2012, Chicago Teachers Union held a massive rally at the Auditorium theater to inform their membership about the coming contract struggle they face. In the climate of school closings, budget cuts, a terrible new proposed contract, and teacher-bashing on the part of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Chicago schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizzard, CTU took to the streets to show their numbers and appeal to the public, and within two weeks CTU was voting to authorize a strike.
From inside the Auditorium Theater, Labor Beat caught the main speeches to the huge crowd from CTU officers Kristine Mayle and Karen Lewis and a number of those who came out to support the teachers, including local supporters like parent and reporter Matt Farmer and civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.
Outside, at the same time, Labor Beat covered the movement against the city's continuation of rewards to the rich, focusing on the tax breaks for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the wealthiest corporation in the Midwest.
Meanwhile a few blocks away, Stand Up Chicago, Action Now, and many other community organizations rallied against the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME, the operator of the Chicago Board of Trade) and the $110 million tax break they've been given by Illinois. CME is one of the most profitable companies in the region, and yet now Illinois government is making broad cuts to social programs needed by struggling families.
The video presents the most complete and powerful history of an historic moment in Chicago history. Here is a partial summary of what viewers will find:
The video begins with some of the major speeches delivered inside the Auditorium Theatre while the standing room only crowd of more than 4,000 was repeatedly brought to its feet. It begins with the powerful speech by Kristine Mayle, CTU Financial Secretary, who outlined for anyone who was paying attention, what the CTU had been reporting about what the Chicago Public Schools were offering at the bargaining table. The CTU had publicized this information beforehand, but Ms. Mayle’s speech delivered a complete list of the attacks at the bargaining table by the Board of Education. During the weeks that followed, while Chicago media ignored those facts, the people who had heard on May 23 already knew them.
In contrast to the attacks on the union that took place as the union’s members moved to vote on a strike authorization, the claims that the “process” hadn’t been completed, Ms. Mayle outlined what had already been taking place at the bargaining table. [A complete transcription of Ms. Mayle’s speech is available at the Substance May 2012 Home Page and it also reprinted in the June 2012 print edition of Substance].
Another highlight of the rally was the "cross examination" by parent and attorney Matt Farmer of Chicago Board of Education member, billionaire Penny Pritzker, who was one of the seven members appointed to the Chicago Board of Education by Rahm Emanuel. Taking off from the fact that Penny Pritzker, along with Rahm Emanuel, sends her own children to the University of Chicago Lab School (where Barack Obama sent his daughters). Farmer highlighted all of the programs and resources that children get at the Lab School, then highlighted equally the hypocrisy of Priztker in opposing the same resources for children in the city’s public schools.
The video then shifts to outside, where a mile away, activists were protesting the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Elizabeth Parisian of Stand Up Chicago outlines the case against CME and corporate tax breaks in an era when child care, mental health, schools and other services are being cut. The video begins making it clear that three rallies (which were ultimately to converge) were taking place that afternoon.
Back in the Auditorium Theater, Rev. Jesse Jackson delivered a speech that the refrain was “Where did the money go?...” Rev. Jackson pointed out the trillions of dollars wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then there was the speech by Randi Weingarten, of the AFT. “If the one percent can get the help, what about the children of this city and the people who educate them…”
The final speech inside was the President of the CTU. “CTU, this is your finest hour,” Karen Lewis said at the beginning of her speech. She reminded the audience that it was part of a national fight against what she called “failed status quo reforms…” Rich people, Lewis noted, are now making the policies. “Nationwide, everyone is facing the loss of their collective bargaining rights… Look at Wisconsin, look at Indiana, we are surrounded by madness, brothers and sisters…”
Lewis noted the history of attacks on the union and public school teachers since June 2001, calling the longer school day a “political gimmick.” She noted that the first act of Rahm Emanuel’s hand picked Board of Education stole the four percent raise from the city’s union school workers.
Outside at the same time, the union's Vice President was sharing the same information. “This space is a historic space…” Jesse Sharkey said when he spoke outside, in Grant Park, on a platform that proclaimed "The Schools Chicago's Students Deserve..." Sharkey pointed out that the same space, Grant Park, was the site of the Democratic Convention protests in 1968 that helped end the Vietnam War, and the 2011 Occupy protests. Sharkey’s powerful speech received similar cheers to those echoing inside while Lewis spoke.
Citing the expansion of charter schools, Sharkey listed the things the city’s real public schools are lacking, while CPS and the mayor are proposing the expansion of charter schools, and giving the Chicago Mercantile Exchange a $110 million per year tax break. “We have to act like a union.”
Inside, Lewis was told that the rally had to wrap up. “Shall we go?” Lewis then asked, when told that the rally inside had to either end or the march outside could not begin. As the crowd chanted "Strike! Strike!" and "Fight! Fight!" the auditorium emptied and the largest teacher march in the city's history began.
The final five minutes of the powerful video shows the largest march of teachers in Chicago history. Michigan Ave. filled with “CTU Red” and signs proclaiming “Yes” that would later be used for the strike vote. The video depicts the march filling Adams St. from curb to curb with the Art Institute in the background, then the audio shows “CTU!” echoing through the Loop.
Stand up Chicago’s march, chanting “Corporate welfare has got to go!” joined with CTU’s marchers chanting “CTU!”
The banners and the crowd are depicted. “Illinois is not broke…”
The video ends with the words of Jesse Sharkey. “There was an attack, but if we stick together, all of us in this union, we will be safe…” together…
Chicago's Labor Beat has completed its first video from the historic May 23, 2012 rallies and march of Chicago Teachers Union members and their allies, joining towards the end of those at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to protest the ripoffs perpetrated by the rich against everyone else.
Entitled "Chicago Teachers Stand Strong," the video is now available On YouTube: (http://you tu.be /SOLj6B4cF2w).
On May 23, 2012, Chicago Teachers Union held a massive rally at the Auditorium theater to inform their membership about the coming contract struggle they face. In the climate of school closings, budget cuts, a terrible new proposed contract, and teacher-bashing on the part of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Chicago schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizzard, CTU took to the streets to show their numbers and appeal to the public, and within two weeks CTU was voting to authorize a strike.
From inside the Auditorium Theater, Labor Beat caught the main speeches to the huge crowd from CTU officers Kristine Mayle and Karen Lewis and a number of those who came out to support the teachers, including local supporters like parent and reporter Matt Farmer and civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.
Outside, at the same time, Labor Beat covered the movement against the city's continuation of rewards to the rich, focusing on the tax breaks for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the wealthiest corporation in the Midwest.
Meanwhile a few blocks away, Stand Up Chicago, Action Now, and many other community organizations rallied against the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME, the operator of the Chicago Board of Trade) and the $110 million tax break they've been given by Illinois. CME is one of the most profitable companies in the region, and yet now Illinois government is making broad cuts to social programs needed by struggling families. These two marches converged at Jackson and LaSalle in a unified demand for economic justice for Chicago's 99%. Length: 28:08.
Please make a Donation to Labor Beat (Committee for Labor Access) and help rank-and-file tv: DONATE
Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. For info: mail@laborbeat.org, www.laborbeat.org. 312-226-3330. For other Labor Beat videos, visit YouTube and search "Labor Beat".
On Chicago CAN TV Channel 19, Thursdays 9:30 pm; Fridays 4:30 pm. Labor Beat has regular cable slots in Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Urbana, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Rochester, NY. For more detailed information, send us a request at mail@laborbeat.org.
The video, which concentrates on the speeches by CTU leaders inside the Auditorium Theater in front of 4,000 union members, most wearing "CTU red", but also goes back and forth to the activities outside the rally, concluding with the largest teacher march in Chicago history. The URL for the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOLj6B4cF2w&feature=youtu.be
These two marches converged at Jackson and LaSalle in a unified demand for economic justice for Chicago's 99%. Length: 28:08.
Please make a Donation to Labor Beat (Committee for Labor Access) and help rank-and-file tv: DONATE
Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. For info: mail@laborbeat.org, www.laborbeat.org. 312-226-3330. For other Labor Beat videos, visit YouTube and search "Labor Beat".
On Chicago CAN TV Channel 19, Thursdays 9:30 pm; Fridays 4:30 pm. Labor Beat has regular cable slots in Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Urbana, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Rochester, NY. For more detailed information, send us a request at mail@laborbeat.org.
The video, which concentrates on the speeches by CTU leaders inside the Auditorium Theater in front of 4,000 union members, most wearing "CTU red", but also goes back and forth to the activities outside the rally, concluding with the largest teacher march in Chicago history. The URL for the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOLj6B4cF2w&feature=youtu.be
