Chicago, IL – El martes, 24 de febrero, más de 30 estudiantes y miembros de la comunidad se reunieron en el Centro Cultural Negro de la Universidad de Illinois Chicago (UIC) por un estreno de Judas y la Messiah Negra, seguido por una discusión guiada por camaradas del distrito de Chicago de la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad (OSCL).

Dirigido y escrito por Shaka King, Judas y el Mesías Negro (2021) es un cuento cinemático de la historia del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra, el origen de base de la histórica Coalición Arcoíris de Chicago, y los días finales del presidente Fred Hampton del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra. Siguiendo la historia del difunto presidente y de William O’Neal, informante del FBI e infiltrador del partido, la película muestra la verdadera conspiración para asesinar al presidente Fred llevado a cabo por el FBI, la Fiscalía del Condado de Cook y el Departamento de Policía de Chicago.

Después de la película, Kobi Guillory, miembro de la OSCL en Chicago y del Sindicato de Maestros de Chicago, hizo preguntas sobre los pensamientos de la audiencia acerca de la historia de la lucha revolucionaria, solidaridad de clase y la represión política. Los participantes entre la audiencia contaron sus propias experiencias de brutalidad policial, seres queridos asesinados o secuestrados por los matones del estado, otros invocaron los orígenes de la policía de los EE.UU. como resultado de las patrullas cazadoras de esclavos.

Este Mes de la Historia Negra, es aún más importante que nunca recordar el legado revolucionario del Partido Pantera Negra y la Coalición Arcoíris: un legado de solidaridad de la clase trabajadora, de lucha contra la represión política anti-negra y anti-obrera. Fred Hampton, como presidente del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra y vicepresidente del Partido Pantera Negra Nacional, vio con toda claridad la distracción que era la división racial de Chicago.

Tras la ola de violencia sancionada por el estado contra las nacionalidades oprimidas y quienes se solidarizan con ellas sigue en todas partes de la nación, continuamos luchando. Y en palabras del Camarada Fred Hampton, cuando te atreves a luchar, ¡te atreves a ganar!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #MovimientoEstudiantil #SDS #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NacionalidadesOprimidas #Afroamericano #elMesdeHistoriaNegra #OSCL #CTU

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, February 24, over 30 students and community members gathered in University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) Black Cultural Center for a screening of Judas and the Black Messiah, followed by a guided discussion led by comrades in the Chicago district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Directed and written by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) is a cinematic telling of the story of the Black Panther Party Illinois Chapter, the grassroots genesis of Chicago’s historic Rainbow Coalition, and the final days of Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. Following the story of both the late chairman and William O’Neal, FBI informant and party infiltrator, the film depicts the real-life conspiracy to murder Chairman Fred carried out by the FBI, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office, and the Chicago Police Department.

After the movie, Kobi Guillory, a member of FRSO Chicago and the Chicago Teacher’s Union, inquired about the audience’s takeaways from this story of revolutionary struggle, class solidarity and political repression. Audience members recounted similarities to their own experiences of police brutality, loved ones murdered or abducted by state thugs, others invoked the very origins of U.S. law enforcement as rooted in the slave patrols.

This Black History Month, it is more important than ever to remember the revolutionary legacy of the Black Panther Party and the Rainbow Coalition: a legacy of working class solidarity, standing against anti-Black and anti-worker political repression. Fred Hampton, as chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and deputy chair of the National Black Panther Party, could see Chicago’s race divide for the smoke screen that it was.

In the wake of a torrent of state-sanctioned violence against the oppressed nationalities and those who stand with them continues across the nation, we continue to struggle. And in the words of Comrade Fred Hampton, when you dare to struggle, you dare to win!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #SDS #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #FRSO #CTU

Chicago, IL – Leaders and rank-and-file members of the Chicago Teachers Union were joined by community supporters on Tuesday January 27, as they celebrated recent and historical victories won by CTU and the movement to defend public education. They also recognized the need to build ongoing struggles against ICE, racist policing and for fully funded public services.

“Unions are under attack because we refuse to be silent,” said, elementary school teacher Ashley Harris, explaining why CTU is currently being investigated by the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

“Our union understands that protecting public education is protecting racial justice,” Harris added.

“Having a teacher’s union that defends students and communities is not optional. It's a necessity,” said Rocio Garcia with the Grassroots Collaborative.

Two students addressed the rally by describing how the CTU Environmental Justice Freedom School, a yearly summer program for high school students, empowered them to organize for a just future. Together with other students and community members, they have taken the demand for fully-funded public schools to the Chicago Board of Education and the state capitol in Springfield.

“We want change and we will fight for it,” said one of the students.

The students were introduced by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who explained the policies of his administration by saying “we are centering the needs of young people and working people.”

Johnson touted record low crime rates and investments in schools, parks, and public libraries as evidence of the effectiveness of investing in communities. He added “when we talk about investing in communities, that money has to come from the ultra-rich.”

Stacy Davis Gates ended the night by calling to the history of the battle for public education. She recounted how Jitu Brown, who was in attendance, went from sleeping outside the Board of Education in protest to being an elected board member. She also linked the ongoing fight to save public education with the coalition of freed slaves and white abolitionists who built the first public education system in the South during Reconstruction.

“Our work is rooted in the spirit of Fred Hampton,” Gates declared. She spoke about the work CTU has done in building solidarity in Chicago and affirmed that this work would grow throughout Illinois during her tenure as president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

“We are going school to school, neighborhood to neighborhood, city to city and teaching people that the answer to their problems comes not from Democrats or Republicans, but from the solidarity of workers,” Gates proclaimed.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU #Teachers

Chicago, IL – On January 23, Chicagoans across the city targeted various Target locations to protest the corporation’s support for ICE terror.

The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) led and mobilized people to the Target in Hyde Park. This included members from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), Mexican Students de Aztlan (MeSA), U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Anti-War Committee Chicago (AWC) and more.

Outside the Target store in Hyde Park, Kobi Guillory, a member of CTU stated, “We are here in solidarity with our siblings in Minnesota who are right now 100K strong outside of the Target Center saying that Target should stop helping ICE. Target should stop its complicity with the violence that ICE is inflicting on Black and brown communities. Just the other day, Target employees in Minnesota were abducted by ICE in a Target. Did Target take a stand to defend their employees? Did they take a stand to defend the communities who make Target’s profits?”

Guillory continued, “We are demanding that Target honor the Fourth Amendment that you cannot be subject to unlawful search and seizure inside your workplace. This is illegal, what ICE is doing. We the people are going to use our people and we are going to force these corporations and elected officials to do the right thing.”

Inside the Target store, protesters delivered a list of demands to the store manager, including, “Call for an end to the ICE surge in Minnesota, and for ICE to leave the state; we want Target to affirm the Fourth Amendment; we want Target to post signage prohibiting ICE from entering their buildings, and we want Target to publicly call on congress to stop funding ICE.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #CATA #CTU #CAARPR #MESA #USPCN #AWCChicago

Chicago, IL – on Friday morning, January 23, nearly 100 people packed into Casa Michoacan for a press conference and rally. In solidarity with the broad coalition shutting down the Twin Cities that same day, speakers demanded the conviction of Jonathan Ross for murdering Renee Good, ICE out of Minnesota, and no more federal funding for ICE.

Speakers connected the crimes of ICE in Minnesota with the terror they have inflicted across the country, specifically mentioning the murders of Keith Porter Jr in Los Angeles and Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Franklin Park, IL.

“It’s about time that we recognize in our neighbors faces that we are part of one body of one nation. And if one of us is missing, then all of us are missing,” declared Marién Casillas-Pabellón, executive director of the West Suburban Action Project (PASO).

“Minnesota, we stand with you. We have cried with you, and we will not let the tears be the end of it. Because we have power.” Casillas-Pabellón added.

Like the actions in Minnesota, the press conference represented a wide coalition of organizations that fight for working and oppressed people. Representatives shared actions they would be taking to bring the demands to local elected officials and branches of corporations.

“Outrage alone does not change conditions. Organizing does,” said Genie Kastrup, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1.

Kobi Guillory, a middle school science teacher and executive board member of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), spoke about actions CTU, SEIU, and other organizations would be taking against Target that afternoon.

“Our siblings in the Minneapolis Federation of Educators are protesting Target for their complicity with ICE abductions in their stores. We will be out at ten different Targets around the city today,” Guillory explained. Target in particular is under fire after two Target employees were kidnapped from a Target store in Minnesota while the corporation refused to protect them.

“There’s power in this room and there’s power in the streets. We won’t stand idly by as they separate families,” affirmed Veronica Castro, Deputy Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). Castro and other speakers encouraged listeners to take action by joining organizations in preparation for further ICE escalation.

“If CBP tries to come in thousands then our response has to be just as organized, just as widespread, and just as ready,” said Any Huamani, immigration defense coordinator with Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.

Organizers affirmed their commitment to fight to abolish ICE, defeat the Trump agenda, and create a better world.

“We won’t let Trump take us back to 1850, nor will we go back to 2015. We will keep fighting until our children have the safe, just, fully funded communities they deserve,” Guillory proclaimed.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #Labor #CTU #SEIU #ICIRR #PASO #ReneeGood #AlexPretti

Chicago, IL – On December 20, over 175 people gathered in the Chicago Teachers Union Hall to stand in solidarity with Gustavo Petro and the people of Colombia as their country faces an intensification of U.S. aggression.

Petro has had his visa revoked by the Trump administration, and the country is seeing attacks in the form of sanctions, tariffs and military threats. These attacks have been because of his un-fearful stance against U.S. imperialism, from calling out the U.S./Israel’s genocide in Gaza to defending the sovereignty of Latin American nations. Petro is a popular and progressive internationalist.

In attendance were members of the Colombian consulate, progressive Chicago politicians, and leaders in the people's struggle, speaking on what Colombia needs from the people of Chicago.

Our solidarity must be concrete as well

“We must stand in solidarity with Gustavo Petro and the beautiful people of Colombia, as they have stood with Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, with forces fighting for climate and environmental justice, as they have stood with their neighbors in Venezuela who are in the crosshairs of the U.S. military,” said Hatem Abudayyeh from the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN).

Abudayyeh continued, “Together we will reject sanctions, threats, intervention and war against the people of Colombia.”

Daniel Garcia-Peña, the Colombian ambassador to the United States, spoke on the achievements that Colombia has made under the leadership of Petro. He also spoke of the need for solidarity with the nation during rising tensions. Peña stated, “We are very concerned about what is happening in the Caribbean. It’s a clear sign of how the U.S. is threatening not only Venezuela but all of Latin America, which continue to be seen as a backyard that can be trampled on.”

Garcia-Peña noted “But me and President Petro have been clear, times are different. Colombians and Latin Americans are not going to stand for interventionism as they may have happened in the past. We need each other's solidarity. Palestinians can count on Colombians, but we also need the world to stand with Colombians and our Latin American neighbors in these trying times.”

Speakers from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the Anti-War Committee (AWC) and the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) also spoke, representing the progressive movements which they work in.

Alderperson Byron Sicho-Lopez echoed the message of late Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton on the need for solidarity. Lopez introduced the resolution commemorating the historic 2024 visit of Petro to Chicago – a city that, much like Colombia, is a beacon of hope in the resistance against the reactionary Trump administration.

#ChicagoIL #IL #International #Colombia #AntiWarMovement #CAARPR #AWCChicago #CATA #CTU #Labor #Teachers

Chicago IL – 150 Chicagoans gathered downtown in the biting cold on Black Friday to say, “Tax the greed! Fund the need!” From a wide range of communities, they gathered to speak up for working and oppressed people. They stood united on a broad platform of demands including higher taxes on the rich, more funding for public services, and an end to Trump’s reactionary agenda.

“ICE has already taken far too many resources from our communities,” said Bassem Kawar with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. 

Kawar explained that although ICE employee Greg Bovino has left Chicago, the people still have to fight the ongoing ICE abductions. The 100 remaining ICE agents in the area continue to terrorize neighborhoods, especially in Republican-dominated DuPage County. Trump has threatened to increase the deployment to 1000 agents in March. The movement must prepare for the attacks to escalate in 2026.

“Trump and his cronies have already cut SNAP and Medicare to fund these attacks on our communities and we say that ain't right!” said Kawar.

The rally continued with a prayer by Reverend Juan Pablo Herrera to uplift “the courage of those who choose people over profit and liberation over exploitation.”

“In the Bible, God tells people to make a choice. You have to decide which side you are standing on,” added Reverend Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of Live Free Illinois. “You’re either on the side of justice or you're on the side of oppression.”

Bates-Chamberlain and other speakers called out corporations, including Target, Amazon and AT&T, that are standing on the side of oppression.

Will Tanzman, executive director of the People's Lobby, broke down the crimes abetted by AT&T’s $150 million contracts with federal agencies. He cited its support for ICE’s surveillance networks and Trump's “big ugly bill” which gives the corporation $8 billion in tax breaks.

“Corporations like AT&T and Amazon have willingly provided federal agencies like DHS with services that aid and abet the terror inflicted on our communities,” said Tomás Lobato, a special education teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).

Lobato also demanded that Chicago alderpersons take a stand. He called on elected officials to support Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget. Mayor Johnson aims to tax corporations instead of increasing property taxes and grocery taxes on working people.

Amaziah Burton, another CTU member, explained that her school alone stands to lose over half a million dollars and seven staff members if the budget does not pass. Burton cited the Protecting Chicago's Schools calculator, which predicts $552 million in budget cuts and 7724 layoffs if alderpersons vote against the budget.

Noura Ebrahim with the US Palestinian Community Network called on people to participate in the boycott, divestment, sanction campaign and demand that Illinois treasurer Michael Freirichs divest from Israeli bonds and companies complicit in the occupation and genocide in Palestine.

“The same companies profiting off occupation abroad are profiting off policing, deportation and surveillance at home,” Ebrahim said.

“The people's side abolishes chattel slavery. The people's side gives us the eight-hour workday and civil rights,” Brian Young Jr with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression linked the fight against the Trump agenda to the historical struggles of working and oppressed people: “We stand today on the people's side!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #CTU #ImmigrantRights #Trump #CAARPR

Springfield, IL – Four buses departed from the parking lot of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) headquarters at sunrise on Wednesday morning, October 29. They carried hundreds of educators, students and parents to the State Capitol in Springfield where they joined people from all over the state mobilized by the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT). All united to demand fully funded schools across the state.

“We have rank-and-file members from all over the state of Illinois,” IFT President Stacy Davis Gates said at a fiery press conference on the steps of the Capitol. “We have people here who are walking children back and forth from school because of ICE. We have people who spend more money on materials for the kids than their district does.”

Wednesday was the fifth day of the Illinois legislature's fall veto session. Unions and community organizations attended the veto session to demand funding for public education, transportation and healthcare, issues that legislators neglected in the spring session.

“The punchline is, we need to tax the rich,” Davis Gates continued. Other newly elected leaders of IFT and educators from across Illinois reiterated the need to make the rich pay for public services.

After the press conference, IFT members and allies flooded the building to get commitments from legislators to fight for fully-funded schools.

“Nothing is more important than making sure we're fully funded because we don't know what will happen by the end of the year,” Amaziah Burton, a special education teacher from Chicago, said after speaking to several state representatives who have not prioritized funds for education.

“Governor Pritzker’s kids will never know what it feels like to have no social worker and no books in the school. That's why he says there's no money,” Burton added. She then cited Trump's efforts to destroy public education, and the state's evidence based funding formula which says Illinois schools need over $3 billion more to be adequately funded.

“Illinois universities were already in a weakened state because of a lack of state funding and now we're under attack by the Trump admin. They're coming after diversity and inclusion programs and research grants and the system is already bare bones, so we have to get more support at the state level,” explained Aaron Krall, a UIC professor and the president of UIC United Faculty, a local of IFT. Krall and other IFT higher education members called on Pritzker to release $25 million currently being withheld from the state's universities.

“My group's main reason for being in Springfield is to promote the funding of transportation, but all our issues are connected,” said Lena Mackley, a member of the People's Lobby and a middle school teacher in the West Suburbs. “This country has all the money in the world, but we don't let it benefit our own communities. Instead, we give it to Israel.

“While American school unions protest their local governments for adequate funding, Israeli citizens enjoy free education at the expense of the American taxpayer. Even the special education programs in Palestine are struggling to support their special education population because American taxes fund the bombing of schools there instead of building up the schools here,” Mackley, who is Palestinian, explained the experience of teachers in her family in Palestine.

The buses drove back to Chicago as the sun went down. Educators and allies went home committed to building the fight against the Trump agenda and all state and local policies that steal from workers and give to billionaires.

#SpringfieldIL #IL #Labor #Teachers #IFT #CTU

Rosemont, IL – Hundreds of people marched in the No Kings protest on Saturday afternoon, October 18, near O’Hare International Airport. At the head of the column was the leadership of the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), including outgoing President Dan Montgomery and newly-elected President Stacy Davis Gates. Protesters demanded fully-funded public services and an end to Trump's federal invasion of Illinois.

The protest took place on the second day of the IFT convention. The delegates unanimously elected Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, as Illinois Federation of Teachers president. Delegates also elected an executive board representing locals all over the state. They also resolved to fight for full- funded schools and against the many attacks from the Trump administration against the people of Illinois.

Hundreds of teachers and school staff took their demands to the streets and united with hundreds more community members and attendees of other conventions. They marched down the usually quiet sidewalk and chanted “Donald Trump has got to go!” and “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!”

Drivers honked their horns and waved signs and flags in support. These demonstrators joined millions of people around the country in visible opposition to the Trump agenda.

“It's energizing to be here with fellow teachers and education workers from around the state,” said Haden Kersting, a high school teacher and IFT delegate. “There is a tremendous amount of unity here. Trump is attacking our rights as workers, and he is attacking the communities that we are a part of and serve. People are ready to fight against Trump and his accomplices.”

#RosemontIL #IL #Labor #NoKings #IFT #CTU #Teachers

Chicago, IL – 10,000 Chicagoans gathered at the West Loop Haymarket Memorial on Monday, September 1, for a “Workers over Billionaires” protest called by the Chicago Federation of Labor for a militant Labor Day demonstration.

The protest was a response to Trump’s sweeping attacks on working and oppressed people, with particular focus on his attacks on federal workers’ bargaining rights, Immigrant rights, and his threats to send federal troops into Chicago.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order attempting to strip collective bargaining rights from almost 1 million federal workers. In recent weeks, he has made consistent threats to send military forces into cities run by Black mayors, with particular malice toward Chicago’s mayor and the union city that elected him.

To open his remarks at the Labor Day protest, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fired up the crowd with chants of “No federal troops in the city of Chicago!” The mayor took a fighting stance with regards to Trump’s attacks on Chicago, describing his administration’s efforts to defend and invest in workers, especially Black and brown workers. Johnson spoke with pride about helping abolish the sub-minimum wage, ratify a transformative Chicago Teacher’s Union contract, and invest in affordable housing units on the South and West sides.

“We have stood up for the interests of workers before and we will do it again Johnson said. “We will always be a labor town.”

Johnson’s emphasis on the role of unions and working class people in mobilizing against Trump’s attacks to come was clear. “I need you all to stand firm and stand strong,” he said.

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis-Gates matched Johnson’s words, stating, “In Chicago, we reject a billionaire’s tyranny in our city,” she said. “Solidarity is the antidote to white supremacy. Solidarity is the antidote to anti-immigrant fever. Solidarity is the antidote to transphobia and homophobia.”

“It is because of unions that there are no children who are working underage, and because of unions that we have health benefits, sick leave and vacation time,” said Reverend Jamal Bryant, a senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. He called for labor forces to fight back once again. “There are more labor workers than there are billionaires.”

After the initial program at the Haymarket Monument, the protesters began marching west, chanting and holding signs promoting workers’ and Immigrants’ rights, and opposing Trump and his threats to send in troops to Chicago.

First stop: Workers over billionaires!

The march stopped at the corner of Fulton and Sangamon, outside the offices of Valor Equity Partners, a company founded by Chicago billionaire Antonio Gracias.

Toni Frazier, a childcare professional and SEIUHCII member, has worked in childcare for more than 34 years. She called out Gracias for not only hoarding billions off the backs of workers but also working with Musk to cut Social Security. These attacks hit close to home for Frazier, whose granddaughter needs special services for autism and whose niece is disabled and struggles to access healthcare. “We are here to take care of those who need help the most,” Frazier said. “That ain’t the billionaires.”

Second stop: Boycott Target!

The march reached its second stop outside a Target store, where Reverend Bryant spoke about the nationwide boycott against the corporation since it ended its DEI programs and goals early this year. The campaign’s efforts have seen Target’s stock drop by $52 per share and the CEO’s salary cut by 42% since the start of the boycott.

Bryant attributed the campaign’s progress to the same unity that helped build the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the Civil Rights movement. Labor unions, teachers and faith leaders all have to work together, he said. “Don’t let nobody turn us around!”

Final stop: We must defeat Trump in the streets!

John Miller, local president of University Professionals of Illinois Local 41 and a member of the American Association of University Professionals, called out the cruel disinvestment in education and all aspects of society orchestrated by Trump and the billionaire ruling class, including Governor Pritzker. Miller emphasized the need for an organized, militant response from the movement.

“All of higher education is under attack,” Miller said. “We’ve filed lawsuits, but we must defeat [Trump] in the streets.”

“We can play defense, or we can go on offense,” said Nico Coronado, chief negotiator for Teamsters 705 in their fight with Mauser. Over 100 members have been on strike since June 9. They are demanding better wages, workplace quality standards as well as protections from immigration enforcement. “We need to organize to bring in more members and have more militancy.”

No Trump, no troops!

In the coming days, an illegal military occupation of communities may come to Chicago as ordered by Donald Trump. The National Guard is being deployed, like in Washington DC, to continue the attacks on working and oppressed people, under the guise of fighting crime.

Chicagoans, in particular Black people and immigrants, have an inalienable democratic right to resist through whatever means of resistance needed. The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) is ready to mobilize as soon as troops hit the ground. Follow CATA on social media at coalitionagainsttrumpagenda.org

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #Labor #Trump #ImmigrantRights #CATA #AFLCIO #SEIU #CTU

Chicago, IL – The South Side celebrated the last days of summer at the 96th Bud Billiken parade on Saturday, August 9. The Bud Billiken is the largest African American parade in the country. Young people received school supplies while dancers and musicians showed off their skills. Some organizations also raised political demands such as community control of police, fully funded public services, and progressive taxation.

200 school staff, students and parents marched with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). They wore shirts that read “Fully fund schools, tax the rich” and passed out school supplies.

The CTU contingent was led by their president, Stacy Davis Gates, who was an honorary marshal in the parade. As they saw her pass, some community members shouted, “We’re with you, Stacy!” and “Keep up the fight!”

“Being out here with the people lets you know you're on the right path,” Davis Gates said after the parade.

“It's the longest running Black parade in the world,” said Patricia Williams, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). “With all that history we had to be out here. And people said, ‘We love what you're doing’ and ‘Keep up the good work.’ A lot of people wanted to volunteer.”

Williams and other CAARPR members were canvassing for the Community Power Over Policing (CPOP) referendum, which would strengthen the police accountability legislation won by the movement in 2021. They also gathered petitions demanding that Governor JB Pritzker sign clemency petitions for survivors of police torture.

“We ought to be able to get this referendum passed with all the support people showed today,” Williams said.

As parents, youth and teachers prepare for the beginning of the school year, organizers continue to build the fight for a better future.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #CAARPR #NAARPR

Chicago, IL – On August 4, a crowd packed Pilsen Community Books for a teach-in led by Educators for Palestine. Organizations from across Chicago presented their campaigns for immediate divestment from Israel. The teach-in was aimed at Chicago teachers, who have 1.8% of their pension funds invested in companies listed in the boycott, divest, sanction (BDS) list.

Members of Educators for Palestine shared that the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF) invests $132 million in weapons manufacturers, $46 million in tech and software, and $20 million in oil and gas companies. CTPF also holds $1.6 million in Israel Bonds that provide Israel with unrestricted funding to use for military expenditures and settlements. They urged educators to attend CTPF meetings and demand immediate divestment. Some attended the CTPF meeting downtown the next morning to bring the demand to board members.

From a moral and financial standpoint, it’s clear that investing in Israel Bonds is the wrong decision. Noura Ebrahim, a leader of BDS – Chicago, a project of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), explained why it’s also a bad financial investment.

“Israel is actively committing a genocide in Gaza, its economy is in freefall, its credit rating has been downgraded significantly, and it faces growing global isolation,” Ebrahim said while teaching attendees about the statewide Divest Illinois From Genocide campaign, which is co led by BDS Chicago and the Anti-War Committee Chicago (AWC). The campaign calls on State Treasurer Michael Frerichs to divest from Israel Bonds and the Illinois State Board of Investments (ISBI) to divest from companies complicit in the genocide and occupation of Palestine.

“As Illinois taxpayers, and as educators, and as community members, we should not be forced to have our money tied to genocide,” Ebrahim concluded while urging people to rally at the next quarterly ISBI meeting on September 19.

Attendees learned about the campaign to boycott Teva, the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical company. Teva is a major factor in the genocide, as it provides millions of dollars in tax revenue that boosts Israel’s economy and funds the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Presenters urged listeners to call their pharmacies and say they refuse to take Teva medication if there is another option. Healthcare professionals are required to record this refusal in patients’ charts and abide by it to the best of their ability. They also recommended switching to an independent pharmacy, which typically has more control over what brands it carries.

The final presentation was from Mask off Maersk, a campaign demanding an end to the shipping and manufacturing of weapons for Israel. Maersk is the world’s second-largest logistics company, and some of those profits can be attributed to the destruction of Gaza.

Members of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) explained that Maersk has transported millions of pounds of military cargo into Israel from the U.S., including the F-35 fighter jets which drop bombs on Gaza. They encouraged people to research and disrupt the supply chain of arms to Israel.

Each presentation had a different focus, but one clear message rang through every speaker – the people of Illinois do not want their money tied to genocide. The event ended with breakout groups, with members of each organization answering additional questions regarding their campaign and ways to get involved.

To support the campaign to divest Illinois from genocide, sign-on here as an individual, here as an organization, and here as a state worker.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #EFP #CTU #ChicagoAWC #USPCN #PYM

Chicago, IL – A crowd of Chicago Teachers Union members attended the school board meeting, July 24, carrying giant cardboard cupcakes with price tags representing the net worth of Illinois billionaires. Their demands are for Governor JB Pritzker to call a special legislative session and secure more funding for public education and other services, and for higher taxes on the rich to counteract the effects of Trump's “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

“The top 5% of top earners in Illinois got $7.7 billion in tax cuts from the Big Horrible Bill,” Jackson Potter, the CTU vice president, explaining that these tax cuts are happening while public education, healthcare and transportation each face hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.

“This is not just a number. We are real people being cut away from our students and our jobs,” Deena DuBose, a 34-year veteran music teacher, spoke on how the loss of her position will affect her students and school community. Layoffs are a consequence of annual budget cuts. This year more than 1600 school staff have lost their jobs.

“We cannot be disgruntled about teenage upheavals while actively defunding and underfunding the institutions responsible for the development of our children,” Catlyn Savado, a youth organizer and recent CPS high school graduate, addressed the ongoing topic of “teen takeovers” downtown.

“If you actually put parents and children in the seat, they can tell you what they want to see in every school,” said Senator Graciela Guzman, recounting the demands of parents at a recent CPS budget hearing.

“CPS families have said ‘no more cuts!’ And there's no reason families should be worrying about the $734 million deficit when the state of Illinois by law has committed to providing full funding to all schools in the state of Illinois by 2027,” said Pavlyn Jankov, CTU research director. “CPS is still $1.2 billion away from having enough to provide an adequate education for all its students.”

“There’s nothing left to cut but there's plenty to fund. Our problem is a problem of political will,” said special education teacher Arturo Alvarez. “We need our legislators, especially JB Pritzker, to step up!”

“We cannot watch as JB Pritzker idealizes this concept of Trump-proofing our state while not acting on it,” Savado said.

“We are calling for action! We are calling for an emergency session,” Potter proclaimed at the end of the press conference. “If [Pritzker] doesn't see a crisis in the state, I don't see how he can talk about a constitutional crisis in the country.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU #Teachers

Chicago, IL – “We are here to demand that Governor JB Pritzker live up to his promise of standing up against the cuts and the cruelty of the Trump administration,” Chicago Teachers Union member Jesse Bostic said to the hundreds of people who rallied in Daley Plaza on Saturday afternoon, July 12.

Better Streets Chicago organized the protest in response to the Illinois government’s failure to secure funding necessary to prevent 40% service cuts to public transportation.

“This fight isn't just about buses and trains, it's about workers having dignity, it's about students being able to get to school. Let's build a system that shows up like we do,” said Jose Manuel Almanza, with Equicity Chicago.

“If the state cuts transit funding, I don’t know how I’m going to get around,” said disability rights activist Mary Delgado.

“We know people in our communities are willing to fight for better,” declared Melanie Minuche with Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.

Minuche added, “It’s on all of us to make sure Governor Pritzker gets back to Springfield and calls a special session to fully fund public services.” The demand for a public session comes after the Illinois General Assembly adjourned on May 31 without addressing a $770 million gap in the Regional Transit Authority budget. The state government has also neglected to cover $734 in the Chicago Public Schools budget, which has contributed to mass layoffs of school staff.

The rally showed that communities and unions are ready to unite against both federal attacks on public services and the state government’s reluctance to fund them.

W Robert Schultz III with the Active Transit Alliance led the crowd in chants of “Transit is essential!” After the rally, protesters took the streets and marched to a state-owned office building in the West Loop. While marching, they chanted “Public transit, public good! Fix it, fund it, like you should!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #PeoplesStruggles #CTU #ATA #Transit

“We are facing a crisis that is in some ways unprecedented,” Jackson Potter, vice president of CTU, explained the harm Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill” will do to public services. Chicago Public Schools already faces a $734 million deficit with the “BBB” slashing another $60 million from the district.

Potter reminded the board members of the decades-long fight for school funding in which many board members have participated and urged the board to help apply pressure to Pritzker. For years CTU has called on elected officials to find sources of funding for schools rather than cutting budgets.

“Every dollar cut is a blow to the future of a student who already faces more challenges than most,” Keerti Nandan, a special education teacher, told the press how annual budget cuts affect her students.

“Don't balance the budget on the backs of students with disabilities,” Nandan continued.

One of the consequences of budget cuts is mass layoffs. CPS recently announced the layoffs of over 1400 school staff, mostly paraprofessionals who are majority Black and brown women.

“We know CPS schools are underfunded, and they have $1.2 billion owed to them by the state funding formula,” Pavlyn Jankov, CTU research director, explaining why Governor Pritzker is the target of CTU’s demands.

“Underfunding is a choice,” Jankov described the funding inequality between Chicago and other Illinois districts with fewer Black and brown students. “We have to have a fully funded school system, and that has to happen with state funding and new progressive revenue.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #Education #CTU #Labor

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) announced on Saturday, May 17, that its members had re-elected the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) to lead the union for another term, with CORE leader Stacy Davis Gates continuing as president. This comes one month after members approved a new contract containing over 100 wins for union members and the students, with 97% of members voting to approve.

CORE is the class-struggle-oriented caucus that has led the union for 15 years. Rank-and-file unionists founded the caucus in 2008 in opposition to the neoliberal policies of Mayor Richard M. Daley, which brought privatization, school closures and instability that particularly affected Black communities in the city’s South and West Sides. The caucus first won election in 2010 under the leadership of the late Karen Lewis. Today, much of the CTU rank and file reveres Lewis’s legacy of engaging union members, families and communities in a fight for social justice.

Today, the CORE caucus advocates explicitly for Black and Latino children, who together make up over 80% of the students enrolled in Chicago Public Schools. On May 21, for example, President Davis Gates, Vice President Jackson Potter, and other leaders from CORE advocated against a snap curfew proposal on the floor of the Chicago City Council, criticizing it as criminalizing Black and brown youth.

“What our children need isn’t criminalization – it’s care,” the leadership team said in a joint statement. “They need sustained investment in public education, mental health care, recreational spaces and strong mentorship.” Such instances of advocacy on city council resolutions reflect the CORE caucus’s class-struggle approach: fighting to empower working communities at the bargaining table and beyond.

CORE won the election with 64% of the vote, with the REAL caucus (or the Respect Educate Advocate Lead caucus) garnering 36%. School-by-school results released on May 27 reveal that schools in the predominantly Black South and West Sides tend to support CORE at higher rates. This may reflect the caucus’s history of Black leadership and advocacy for Black communities facing school closures. Additionally, most unionized charter schools voted for CORE by wide margins, which may reflect the caucus’s recent history in leading unionization efforts within charter school networks.

Under CORE leadership, the Chicago Teachers Union continues to claim victories against the neoliberal trends that CORE’s founders sought to oppose. Former CTU member Mayor Brandon Johnson has advocated maintaining the ongoing moratorium on neighborhood school closures. The Chicago Teachers Union also recently advocated for a charter accountability resolution, which the Chicago Board of Education passed on May 29. The resolution strengthens protections for students, communities and public funds in the event of a charter school closure, as well as strengthening labor rights for charter school teachers. This comes on the heels of a contentious struggle over the proposed closure of seven out of 15 schools in the Acero charter network, which resulted in a campaign that ultimately saved five schools when Chicago Public Schools agreed to reintegrate them as traditional public schools.

Given recent attacks by the Trump administration on the immigrant, African American, and LGBTQ communities, the CTU plans to continue to build solidarity and fight in various arenas.

“We will continue to build the strongest force field around our students, our members, our school communities, our city and our union,” the CTU leadership wrote in a press release. “The greatest protection against attacks — whether it is from an out-of-line administrator or an out-of-line president — is each other.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #Teachers #CORE #CTU

Chicago IL – Over 35,000 immigrants and their supporters filled the streets of Chicago on May 1, demanding an end to Trump’s attacks on immigrants and workers.

Led by the Consejo de Resistencia en Defensa del Inmigrante, the mass rally brought together over 150 organizations, mostly composed of Latino, Arab and Palestinian, Filipino and Korean immigrants and their supporters.

Consejo inherited the legacy of the March 10th Movement of 2006. That year, Chicago staged the first mega march in the country, with 300,000 marchers against the racist Sensenbrenner Bill, which would have made it a felony to be undocumented.

Of the four founding leaders of Consejo – Omar Lopez, Jorge Mujica, Martin Unzueta and Hector Rico – the first two were co-chairs of the March 10th Movement. A new generation of organizers joined them in organizing this march, including Vicky Lugo, Maria Bahena, Margarita Morelos and Jill Manrique, to name some of the most prominent.

Speaking as a member of Students for a Democratic Society – UIC, Ariana Vega stated, “Our schools should be sanctuaries – places where students can learn, grow and build better futures. That’s what we’re fighting for. That’s why we’re here today. In the face of Trump’s racist and reactionary administration, we must stand stronger than ever. We must build a movement that refuses to back down. We are not going back – and if we stand united, no one can stop us!”

Displaying the Black and brown coalition that exists in Chicago, speakers included Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; Chicago Teachers Union President Stacey Davis Gates; Service Employees International Union President April Verret, and Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has been targeted by the Trump administration for his continued defense of Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance.

Nerissa Allegreti, president of the National Alliance of Filipino Concerns, blasted the U.S. empire for its colonization of the Philippines, along with Puerto Rico and Cuba, in the early 1900s, making itself the common enemy of all immigrant working-class communities. Allegreti stated, “We will organize like all the other immigrant communities, we will organize and keep on fighting.”

Kobi Guillory, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Chicago Teachers’ Union, gave a powerful closing speech on the strength of the masses, recalling countless victories of the organized people against their oppressors. He noted that May Day this year is seeing protests in over 700 cities – the largest number in modern U.S. history.

Explaining that Black resistance was stronger than slaveholders and segregationists, the movement for the eight-hour workday was stronger than the bosses, and the George Floyd Rebellion was stronger than Donald Trump, Guillory said, “Whether it’s five people or 5 million, when we come together in our numbers, when we come together in our solidarity, when we stand up and fight back, we are stronger than the people in power.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #ImmigrantsRights #Consejo #NAFCON #CTU #FRSO #MayDay #Feature

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) announced on Monday, April 14, that its members have approved of a new contract by an overwhelming 97% majority. This four-year contract with Chicago Public Schools is the first in 15 years that the CTU has achieved without a strike or a strike vote.

The deal will go to the board of education for final approval later this month. Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez plans to recommend that the board approve, saying in a statement on Friday, April 18 that the agreement is financially responsible, despite the “challenging financial times.” This is an imminent conclusion to nearly a year of bargaining, often marked by contention between CTU leadership and Martinez, particularly on the issue of funding.

85% of CTU’s nearly 30,000 members participated in this vote. CTU President Stacey Davis Gates attributed this to the union’s strong democracy. “People got an opportunity to touch it, feel it, see it,” Davis Gates said about the agreement at a CTU conference on Monday. She pointed out that 65 engaged, rank-and-file members made up the bargaining team.

Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, echoed these sentiments saying, “The 85% is as impressive as the 97%. To get that percentage of turnout in a unit that size means their union democracy is incredible.”

The contract includes over 100 wins for the union, many of which will directly impact the education of the students. Some wins include reduced class sizes, increased planning time for elementary school teachers, and increased investment in athletics programs. Furthermore, Chicago Public Schools will add hundreds of new positions, including new counselors, librarians and teacher assistants. The contract also includes annual cost of living adjustments of 4 to 5%, depending on inflation.

“Cost of living is going up, and I’m a fan of paying rent,” said one high school teacher. Veteran teachers won additional increases, lessening the incentive for the most experienced teachers to leave for higher-paying districts in the suburbs.

“This contract was ratified so overwhelmingly because it has something for everyone,” said Kobi Guillory, a community activist and CTU member. “As a middle school teacher, I get additional prep time to plan high quality instruction for my students, and my students get a more joyful school experience.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #Contract #Teachers #CTU #Feature

Chicago, IL – Around 80 educators, firefighters and community members gathered on Monday, March 24, to demand decent contracts for the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) Local 1 and the Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2. The members of both unions have been working under expired contracts; the teachers for eight months and the firefighters for over three and a half years.

The “Rally for Our Contracts” began with speeches in front of the Chicago Fire Department’s Engine 103 Station in the city’s Near West Side. Patrick Cleary, president of Fire Fighters Local 2, emphasized the need for facilities updates in both Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Fire Department. “[Since] 1987 that thing hasn’t changed,” Cleary said, pointing to the station behind him. “They’re finally putting in female accommodations in 2025.”

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates followed this with a call for contracts that place the city’s essential workers and their working conditions “not last on the priority list but first on the priority list.” After the rally at the station, participants lined up behind a fire engine and marched toward the nearby Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, operated by Chicago Public Schools. They emphasized the critical services that both union’s workers provide the city, with signs reading, “We put out fires every day!” and “Take care of the people who take care of Chicago!”

These messages echoed an earlier joint statement of Friday, March 21, in which the unions emphasized the indispensability of their work for people of Chicago, calling for the city to respond with the “security of a contract” as well as the “resources and staffing they need to adequately serve the public.”

Both unions attribute delays in negotiations to the proper city officials not attending bargaining sessions. “They don’t send the decision-makers to negotiations,” Cleary said during a joint press conference by the two unions on Friday, March 21. “If you’re not the decision-maker, you shouldn’t be in the room then.”

With negotiations stalled, Cleary says the department is short-staffed and working with outdated equipment that poses safety concerns. Furthermore, the contract expiration means firefighters have not won a pay raise in over four years.

Meanwhile, the CTU has criticized the chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Pedro Martinez, for “chronic absenteeism.” Martinez has not attended a single bargaining session since they began eleven months ago, in April 2024. Martinez further stalled negotiations by filing a restraining order to prevent CTU from negotiating directly with the board of education in December 2024. While CTU has made progress at the bargaining table with Martinez’s team at CPS, when it comes to closing the deal, Stacy Davis Gates said, “We have to find someone.”

With CTU having secured hundreds of items, the final sticking points are changes to make the teacher evaluation system more equitable, pay raises for veteran teachers, and 20 minutes of increased continuous prep time for elementary teachers, after Rahm Emanuel’s administration reduced this time by 30 minutes in 2012.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU

Chicago, IL – A flood of red shirts washed into the downtown headquarters of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on Thursday afternoon, March 20, during the March Board of Education meeting. Members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) gathered to demand the settlement of their contract after nearly a year of negotiations.

CTU has already published three pages of contract demands on which they have won tentative agreements. The new contract will require greater investment in public education, which depends on a budget amendment that would allow the school district to cover the additional costs incurred by the new contract as well as pension payments for teachers and paraprofessionals.

Bargaining is currently stalled on a handful of points. These include smaller class sizes, higher pay for veteran teachers and paraprofessionals, more elementary school prep time, and reducing inequality in the teacher evaluation system.

“I want to thank the negotiations team for working very hard. We are extremely, extremely close to a settlement,” Chicago School Board President Sean Harden said while explaining that the budget amendment, originally up for a vote at Thursday's meeting, was withdrawn from the agenda to give CTU and CPS more time to reach an agreement.

The major stumbling block in negotiations has been Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, who stormed out of a meeting with CTU leadership and Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday afternoon. Martinez has not attended a single bargaining session since they began last April, but he has stalled negotiations by filing a temporary restraining order to prevent CTU from negotiating directly with the school board and by proposing a budget which made no provisions for increased pay or any other item in the contract.

“For Pedro to decide that he doesn’t want to invest in our future after we’ve worked hard for years and paid our dues, after we’ve done our work making schools open on time, to say we don’t deserve a pension is a slap in the face,” Christel Williams, the recording secretary of CTU and a school clerk, said at a press conference before the meeting. Williams was speaking specifically about paraprofessionals and school related personnel, who are often treated as a second tier by CPS.

“As Trump and Musk bring chaos into our school system, we need a contract and we need it today,” Williams added.

“This board can work together with us to secure the most transformative contract in the history of Chicago Public Schools,” Vicki Kurzydlo, a 31-year veteran educator, emphasized the issues of veteran teacher pay and elementary school prep time.

“Teachers in my building are routinely robbed of their prep time,” elementary school music teacher Kathryn Zamarron said during public comments section of the boad meeting. CTU is demanding 20 additional minutes of prep time for teachers. This is a step towards bringing back 30 minutes of prep time lost under Rahm Emanuel’s administration.

“This system only works because of our free labor,” Zamarron continued. After giving her comment, Zamarron returned to grading her student’s work. She was joined at the podium by dozens of CTU members who also came to the meeting after working in a school system damaged by decades of local and federal defunding of public education.

“In these times of a massive assault on public education by Donald Trump and the oligarchs, we need the highest quality, strongest and most engaging community schools,” said Marc Kaplan, an organizer with Northside Action for Justice, who stressed the importance of a transformative local contract in light of intensifying federal attacks on public education.

Minutes before Kaplan spoke, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. If the order is successfully carried out, schools around the country will be without funding for special education and other crucial programs.

Since Trump's election in November, CTU has uplifted their contract demands as a “forcefield” around Chicago designed to protect the city's students. One win in their 2019 contract, keeping schools as sanctuary spaces, has already successfully defended children from federal agents who attempted to enter Hamline elementary in January.

The next day’s negotiations saw a counteroffer from CPS which did not offer continuous prep time, pushing a settlement back by at least another day.

On Friday afternoon, March 21, CTU held a joint press conference with the firefighter’s union, which has been stalled for three years in negotiations, to demand the settlement of both contracts. The joint conference is an example of the solidarity CTU is building not only to settle its contract, but also to galvanize labor and the people’s movements in united action against Trump’s agenda.

“Since 2012, Chicago has been a place of resistance,” CTU president Stacy Davis Gates said at the Friday press conference, citing Rahm Emanuel’s massive school closing campaign which shut down 50 schools in 2013. “If anyone in this country wants to know how to resist the tyranny of people who want to privatize and close off opportunities, you can come to Chicago.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU #Teachers #Contract