Tentative deal reached with striking Chicago teachers
Tentative deal reached with striking Chicago teachers
'If the delegates so vote, we will suspend the strike'
By Hal Dardick, Ellen Jean Hirst and Joel Hood Tribune reporters
4:35 p.m. CDT, September 14, 2012
Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract and classes could resume for 350,000 students on Monday, according to school and union officials.
The union’s House of Delegates will review details Sunday and are expected to vote then on whether to end the five-day-old teachers strike, according to Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.
She cautioned there is no contract yet, though a City Hall source said the school district and union have reached a “framework with all points resolved.”
CTU attorney Robert Bloch said union negotiators were "hopeful that we will have a complete agreement to present to the union’s House of Delegates by Sunday. And if the delegates so vote, we will suspend the strike and students can return to school on Monday."
Bloch was asked how confident he was that delegates would be happy enough with the deal to end the strike.
“I can’t provide assurances, but I can tell you that it’s a contract that the committee expects to recommend to the membership. And if we have been listening to the membership well and have heard their concerns, then that agreement will be acceptable to our membership overall,” Bloch said.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chicago-teachers-strike-0914-20120914,0,5804860.story
