Editorial: Stewartian Stupidity
It has now been one year since Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart lied to the union’s 31,000 members, ignored the rules of the union by refusing to count the “No” votes at the August 31, 2007, House of Delegates meeting on the proposed contract, and then deployed her cadre of patronage workers to secure a “Yes” vote in the schools. That was all on behalf of the deal she had sealed with Mayor Richard M. Daley and his team during negotiations in the summer of 2007.
Since then, there has been a dramatic split within Stewart’s own group, most recently dramatized by the attempt by Stewart to strip the union’s vice president of his union membership and take away his office.
By August 2007, anyone paying attention to the financial realities of the USA knew that things were going to get rough, very rough. We said so here. But Stewart in her ignorance decided that a five-year contract that gave up seniority and the right to protest school closings was a good idea. Facing the enormity of the collapse of the system of medicine in the USA, Stewart sold out her members’ health (and in some cases, their families’ lives) to cut a sweetheart deal with the mayor and his minions.
Years hence, after the current soap operas in the CTU are history, Marilyn Stewart will go down and be remembered in history.
No matter what people do, the current Chicago Teachers Union contract will not expire until 2012. That’s a long time, and it’s unnecessary. Marilyn Stewart should not have negotiated so long a contract, and Marilyn Stewart should not be ignoring things like the recent Chicago Board of Education budget hearings, or the August 27 school board meeting.
The August 2007 contract was a gift from Marilyn Stewart to Mayor Daley. Every day, more and more teachers learn the hard way what a bad idea it was — in dozens of different ways.
Stewart will be a synonym for stupidity for decades to come.
But the rest of the members of the union can begin organizing now so that solidarity is not just a song. It’s not too late.
By our count (and reported in this Substance) there are now three groups within the CTU in opposition to Stewart. In addition to that, half of Stewart’s own staff members are making distance between Stewart and their own futures. Only die-hards remain loyal to her.
Teachers can take their pick of which group to look into. Here are the Web site addresses:
Coalition for a Strong Democratic Union (CSDU), www. csdu.org.
Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), www. coreteachers.com
ProActive Chicago Teachers and School Workers (PACT), www.pact chicago.com.
We also note that over the summer, Substance reorganized our website: www. substancenews.net. In fact, the only really dumb website dealing directly with the union needs of Chicago teachers is owned and operated by the organization of which Marilyn Stewart proudly proclaims herself “Chief Executive Officer.” You can find the latest poor excuse for 21st Century communications at www. ctunet .com.
If you think we’re being unfair in saying that the current President of the Chicago Teachers Union is stupid, after reviewing the websites of the various factions within the union, let us know how you rate them.
