Teachers strike enters its 3rd day with two sides ‘kilometers apart’
The head of the Chicago Teachers Union suggested the two sides remained “kilometers apart” as the strike entered into its third day Wednesday.
While Mayor Rahm Emanuel suggested there were only two major issues remaining to work out, union President Karen Lewis noted they had agreed on only six of nearly 50 issues.
“To say that the contract will be settled today is lunacy,” she said while at a rally that brought thousands of teachers to the downtown streets Tuesday afternoon. She later said she was “extremely frustrated” when a news reporter commented that it didn’t appear likely that the strike would be resolved even by the end of the day Wednesday.
Board of Education President David Vitale later fired back, saying that other comments that Lewis made while at the rally suggesting she had to return to the “silly part” of her day negotiating with Vitale and encouraging teachers “to have fun” were an insult.
“This is not the behavior of a group of people who are serious about the interests of our children,” Vitale said as negotiations ended Tuesday night. “It’s time for us to get serious.”
Vitale said the board also agreed to freeze health care rates for teachers, something the union had pushed for.
You must login to facebook in order to comment.