Olive-Harvey College faculty members of the Cook County College Teachers Union take a moment from talking to students at the driveway to Chicago’s far southside campus on October 20. Photo by Bob Blackwood.

The 1,300 faculty and professional staff at the City Colleges of Chicago went on strike Oct. 19 for the first time in 27 years. They are represented by the Cook County College Teachers Union/AFT, which, for the past 14 months, has been negotiating four separate contracts for the 550 full-time faculty, 200 full-time and 150 part-time nonteaching professionals and 500 campus police officers.

At issue are rising health care costs, inadequate salary improvements and unreasonable workload increases. On September 1, the union sought federal mediation as the first step under Illinois law towards a job action. A month later, the union membership voted 701-23 to authorize a strike. Subsequent negotiations failed to secure progress, leading to the installation of picket lines at the seven campuses effective 8 a.m. Oct. 19.

The City Colleges board is demanding that all faculty assume an average three-hour per semester teaching load increase to 15 hours and also accommodate larger class sizes. "We made it crystal-clear that this was a strike issue," says CCCTU president Perry Buckley.

At the same time the board is demanding more work from faculty, it is offering raises that barely cover the cost of inflation and a hike in health insurance premiums that would cost employees upwards of $2,000. "That would be a loss in take-home pay," says CCCTU chief negotiator Norman Swenson.

The union recognizes that rising health care costs put a burden on everyone and is willing to step up to the plate, says Swenson, but it wants to stay with a fixed dollar amount for health care. The board is insisting on a large percentage rate that would fluctuate with the costs in health care premiums over the length of the four-year contract. "We cannot give the City Colleges a blank check on our health insurance," says Buckley. 

The weekend before the strike, AFT and Illinois Federation of Teachers representatives provided training for CCCTU strike leaders, shop stewards and activists. The union has been working with the 66,000 students at the City Colleges to gain their support, along with labor and community groups and elected officials. "There have been 20 strikes in the 40-year history of CCCTU," noted Buckley and a message to members. "We have never lost one."

The seven colleges of the City Colleges of Chicago are Harold Washington College, Harry S Truman College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Richard J. Daley College and Wilbur Wright College. [Barbara McKenna]

October 19, 2004