USA: 24.000 Teachers to Strike in Chicago
24,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union are set to strike against the dictates of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his corporate backers. In June, 90 percent of the membership voted to authorize a strike at the beginning of the school year, and contract negotiations have been at a near-standstill all summer. Emanuel unilaterally canceled a planned pay raise for the teachers this year, blatantly disregarded the union contract by lengthening the school day to seven hours, and has long advocated an expansion of for-profit charter schools in the City of Chicago, the country’s third-largest school district. This strike will be the first by the CTU in 25 years, and marks a new chapter in the nationwide struggle between public sector unions the Democratic Party.