The Chicago Teachers Union says it is confident it will obtain an injunction from the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. The union contends the school board broke labor law by going to individual schools to renegotiate the teachers contract in order to extend the school day.
"Had this been done appropriately and legally, there would have been very little question about how things are done. But this was done because they wanted to go directly to our members, around the union. That is illegal. We have collective bargaining," said Karen Lewis, CTU.
The schools' chief executive officer, Jean-Claude Brizard, predicts the union complaint will fail. He claims teachers favor a longer school day, denies trying to break the union and says he's willing to meet with Lewis anytime.
