AFT locals in Chicago and other city unions are poised to reclaim many of the bargaining rights stripped by the Illinois Legislature in 1995.

A coalition of unions met with the city throughout the summer and reached a tentative agreement on restoring many protections and giving employees a renewed say in school operations at both the preK-12 and community college levels. The agreement was approved by the Chicago Teachers Union's House of Delegates last month and crafted into language that the state Legislature is expected to pass by year's end.

"The restoration of these rights has been one of the top priorities of the CTU officers," Deborah Lynch, CTU president and an AFT vice president, reported in an Aug. 26 letter to union delegates. "Your officers believe that this agreement not only restores our bargaining rights, but makes us full partners in the decision-making about how to strengthen our schools and improve our professional working conditions."

Enactment of the School Reform Act of 1995 dealt a severe blow to members' rights at both CTU and the Cook County College Teachers Union/AFT and crippled the unions' ability to bargain on a range of issues, including class size, assessment policy, privatization of services and staffing. Restoring those rights--a top legislative priority of AFT state and local affiliates in Illinois--moved forward in the last session. The Illinois Federation of Teachers and other groups helped marshal enough support from both sides of the aisle to pass what amounted to a legislative "place holder" for whatever agreement the city and the coalition of unions could reach.

Negotiations were intense over the summer and resulted in an agreement between the unions, Mayor Richard M. Daley and school system chief executive officer Arne Duncan. It opens up a broad range of issues to collective bargaining and guarantees unions' rights to enforce their contracts through a true arbitration process.

Regaining collective bargaining rights "is an issue we've been pressing in the Illinois Legislature over the past seven years," says Cook County College Teachers Union president Norman Swenson, who represented all the unions at the City Colleges of Chicago during the negotiations. The union got three bills through the Illinois House, but they were blocked in the Senate. What made the difference this time, says Swenson, was the CTU's concerted focus. He credits Lynch and the new leadership at the CTU with delivering on a campaign promise and cinching the agreement before the start of this school year.

In addition to class size language, the agreement reinstates CCCTU's ability to negotiate noneconomic issues such as technology, teaching assignments and academic calendar. It also makes the impact of decisions on layoffs or contracting out a mandatory subject of bargaining, Swenson adds.

For the Chicago schools, the agreement puts school reform back on the table: It includes language that secures a mutual commitment from CTU and the school system to improve schools and increase student achievement. "We will jointly work on issues such as developing and implementing programs, accelerating the quality of teacher training, improving the value of education programs to students and implementing strategies to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," Lynch told members.  [Barbara McKenna / AFT On Campus]