Progress Illinois

Teacher union leaders staged a charged rally in downtown Chicago yesterday punctuated by Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis asking the assembled crowd, “What are we here for?” and the crowd chanting back, “Strike!”

Kristie Mayle, financial secretary of CTU, did say that the union is still negotiating with the Chicago Public Schools over a collective bargaining contract that expires June 30. But the clear message yesterday was one of fierce acrimony toward Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Also, speakers portrayed CTU on the front line of a national battle to preserve labor union rights.

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In a show of victory, about 50 activists returned to the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) yesterday with a giant check for $33 million — and the now infamous golden toilet meant to symbolize the millions of dollars in TIF money allocated to the CME Group to renovate CBOT's bathrooms. The giant check was indicative of the collective $33 million in TIF funds that were returned last week — including the $15 million the CME Group turned down — by Bank of America, CNA, and the financial exchange.

“We took our money back from CME, and now we’re ready to get that money for jobs for our people,” said Charles Brown, a retired police officer and organizer with Action Now, at the rally.

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That's the number of jobs lost each time the state reduces general fund spending by just 1 percent, according to a new report by Make Wall Street Pay Illinois and the Alliance for a Just Society.

The four-page report, The Cost of Cuts in Illinois: Budget Cuts Hurt Families, Communities, and the Economy (PDF), found that thousands of lost jobs can be associated with cuts in state spending, which is only exacerbated by corporate tax breaks, like the recent ones given to the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the CME Group.

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