CTU President Stacy Davis Gates denies union power play caused rift with SEIU

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates said Thursday her failed attempt to have CTU-represented teachers' assistants perform work done by SEIU Local 73 members was about improving outcomes for special education children — not a union power play.

Davis Gates said she has no fences to mend or apologies to make for crafting contract proposals that SEIU Local 73 leaders said would potentially diminish that union’s future ranks.

The goal, she said, was to give teams of employees charged with developing “individualized education plans” in the school “more discretion about how services for special education students would be implemented for the student’s benefit.”

“IEP teams have teachers, nurses, psychologists, clinicians, social workers participating on it. We thought that it would be better for a team of professionals to make that decision and not just the principal in the school building. So that was the contract proposal,” she said.

“What we landed with will be a benefit to our young people. We will have more support staff in the school community to provide the support necessary to do individualized learning, to do small-group learning. Our members are very pleased with that.”

Ultimately, the CTU backed off.

The tentative agreement that goes before the rank-and-file next week includes an increase in the number of teaching assistants as well as job protections for them.

But the civil war within Mayor Brandon Johnson’s progressive union coalition continues — so much so that it endangers Johnson’s political future.

The host committee for a birthday fundraiser that served as the unofficial kickoff for Johnson’s re-election campaign last weekend did not include any of the SEIU-affiliated unions.

During the contract conflict, SEIU Local 73 went so far as to sign on to an internal SEIU-wide resolution declaring itself “under attack” by CTU.

And after Davis Gates used profanity at a recent fundraiser to spurn a handshake from Anthony Driver Jr., executive director of SEIU Illinois State Council, Dian Palmer, president of Local 73, fired back at the CTU president in a letter to her members.

“I can no longer sit back and watch leadership engage in bullying and dishonesty,” Palmer said, clearly referring to Davis Gates.

On Thursday, Davis Gates refused to discuss that ugly episode.

“That was their story, and they get to have their story,” Davis Gates said of SEIU.

“My story is I’ve spent over a year negotiating a blockbuster contract that was negotiated and landed at the table and not on the picket line. That is a significant achievement of the last 15 years. It is the first time that our union was able to negotiate a contract straight-up since 1994.”

Palmer said Thursday she has “no comment at this time” about the political feud with CTU that has so strained her relationship with Johnson, SEIU sources have said there's “zero chance” that the union will be on board to help Johnson win a second term.

Driver also declined to comment.

Asked in an interview Thursday about his standing with SEIU, Johnson repeated a familiar refrain that his "record with working people and labor in this city is second to no one."

The mayor touted his role in landing contract agreements for SEIU 73 workers with the Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Schools last year. He said he has long supported SEIU since his days at the CTU, and the two unions are important allies.

Johnson said the public spillover of the CTU-SEIU dispute was "not my style."

"You don't ever hear me publicly chastising or ridiculing anyone," he said. "You'll hear disagreements, but it's not anything personal, anything of that nature. I just don't find that to be productive. And I just hope that all of us focus our attention collectively against the real attack, and that real attack is from Donald Trump."

In January, three SEIU presidents — Greg Kelley of SEIU Healthcare; Local 1’s Genie Kastrup; and Palmer of Local 73 — met with Johnson and senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee and urged the mayor to pressure the CTU to stand down. Johnson refused.

“Unions negotiate. That’s literally what they do. They negotiate with the boss, and sometimes they negotiate with other unions. That’s the process that played out,” Lee said.

“The mayor’s role was not to dictate to SEIU or CTU what their position must be. It was to facilitate dialogue, share perspective and encourage finding ways to achieve objectives without alienating or polarizing the other side because there are other things outside of the contract that we need to work together on,” he said.

Without the financial muscle of SEIU and CTU, Johnson would not have vaulted from single-digit obscurity to the fifth floor of City Hall.

SEIU affiliates together donated over $4.5 million to Johnson’s campaign. The union also provided scores of campaign workers and materials. The CTU contributed another $2.3 million to Johnson’s campaign. State and national teachers unions gave another $3.3 million.

Now, Johnson is attempting to overcome anemic public approval ratings by touting his accomplishments at Black churches and on Black radio.

But if the war within his progressive union coalition continues, chances for that political resurrection are slim.

Lee said Johnson is laser-focused on "doing the best job he can for the people of Chicago," which includes members from both the CTU and SEIU.

"If the mayor can do that effectively, then each one of those unions will have a good reason to support this mayor for reelection. ... But you don't take anything for granted. You just have to do the work and show results. That's what the mayor is going to be laser-focused on," Lee said.

Contributing: Nader Issa