Marilyn Stewart’s big mistake
In our June editorial, we warned that if Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart failed to rebuild the coalition of school worker unions in CPS, she was in danger of being out maneuvered by the Board of Education and Mayor Daley. At the time, it was possible that Stewart and her “team” were so busy insuring that they won re-election on May 18 that they had neglected the other unions that had, for more than 20 years, stood in unity with the teachers when labor issues were involved.
With the August announcement that the other employee unions had settled their contracts with CPS, our worst fears were realized, however. Despite some doubletalk from Stewart in answer to a question about the other unions, it turns out that Stewart and her colleagues at the top of the Chicago Teachers Union basically snubbed the others unions, and their leaders, all summer. The result is that Mayor Richard M. Daley was able to play the old “divide and conquer” game against the teachers. He offered the other unions a three percent raise (with a “Me, too” clause guaranteeing any additional raises the CTU wins) and a few other crumbs. The other unions accepted it, partly because they were (as Stewart reported to the House of Delegates August 8) threatened with further privatization, but also because Stewart had not made any effort to rebuild the faltering coalition.
What puzzles us is why Stewart failed to see this problem coming. Equally puzzling is why she didn’t devote any time to organizing in conjunction with the other unions. For all the posturing about “militancy” coming from Stewart and her staff, there was never any real attempt to act like one union among many since Stewart took over as head of the teachers in 2004. Even last year, when hundreds of Stewart’s own members were losing their jobs because of the special education cuts, Stewart tagged along at protests organized by advocacy groups and another union (SEIU Local 73) rather than helping lead the fight against the unconscionable attack on special education services.
We can’t predict the future. But if the teachers go on strike, the other unions will be legally forced to honor the contract the mayor provided to them. That means they will be crossing the teachers’ picket lines for the first time in more than a quarter century.
That will be a very bad thing for unions in Chicago. There will certainly be enough blame to go around. The leaders of the other unions didn’t have to rush to do Mayor Daley’s bidding. But Marilyn Stewart didn’t have to give them the chance to snub the teachers. And she did that by disrespecting the other unions, their leaders, and their rank and file.
