The teachers union in the 10th-largest school district in Illinois has voted to authorize a strike. If an agreement is not reached, teachers in Romeoville and Bolingbrook could strike as soon as Sept. 15.
Teachers and staff of Valley View Community School District 356-U could walk out on 14,600 students as soon as Sept. 15 now that the Valley View Council Local 604 union has filed an intent to strike, the last step before a work stoppage.
Compensation is a top issue, despite Valley View teachers earning more than the state average. The state average is $75,978 and Valley View teachers average $79,497.
Walking out on students has become a go-to strategy for many affiliates of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association, the two biggest teachers unions in Illinois. Recently, Naperville Unit Education Association, an affiliate of IEA, voted to authorize a strike but reached a tentative contract agreement one day later.
It’s a tactic that bullies school districts into doing what the unions want. Districts don’t want to shut students out of school, and unions know that. That’s why most states don’t allow teachers to strike: holding students’ hostage is an unfair bargaining tactic.
At least 37 states, including all of Illinois’ neighbors, have laws prohibiting teacher strikes.
Among the largest 10 school districts in the nation, Chicago is one of just two districts in which strikes are allowed. Teachers union strikes are illegal in the other eight districts.
Valley View’s call for a strike isn’t a surprise, given its affiliation with IFT. IFT is also the parent affiliate of the Chicago Teachers Union, which provides a case study in how Illinois unions aggressively use this power. In just the past 13 years, CTU has walked out on students five times:
- In 2012, a strike during contract negotiations kept kids out of classes for seven days.
- On April 1, 2016, the union conducted an illegal one-day strike in response to alleged “union-busting” efforts by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, Democratic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS CEO Forrest Claypool.
- In 2019, a strike during contract negotiations closed schools for 11 days.
- In January 2021, classes were canceled when CTU refused to return to school for in-person learning following COVID-19 closures.
- In January 2022, CTU walked out on school children for five days. Parents were notified of the walkout after 11 p.m. on a school night, leaving them just hours to develop a back-up plan after the union decided not to show up for Chicago’s children.
But those militant tactics could be backfiring. CTU is now hugely unpopular with Chicagoans. Recent polling shows 60% of Chicago voters have an unfavorable view of the union and more than half disapprove of the union’s president, Stacy Davis Gates. Of the 798 registered Chicago voters polled, only 29% approved of CTU, down from 44% in February 2023.
Valley View Council, as well as other IFT and IEA affiliates, should note: while teachers union strikes may be legal in Illinois, walking out on students is a fast way to lose people’s support.
