"This is going to be a different type of bargaining process," said CTU president Stacy Davis Gates.
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With a CTU-friendly mayor, this year's negotiations are not likely to provoke a strike. Davis Gates said it begins with inviting Chicagoans to witness negotiations. The union is hoping CPS will agree to open bargaining by live streaming sessions.
Besides raises and benefits, CTU is again on a mission to use its contract to transform CPS. In 2012, it negotiated air conditioners for every building.
"By the end of the contract we are on now we will have a social worker in every school, by end of contract a nurse in every school, those are things we fought for in 2019," Davis Gates said.
This time around, Davis Gates said the union will up the ante. The plan is to demand affordable housing, dual language in every school, fully funded special education services, and fall, winter and spring sports for all schools.
"We need fine arts; this is a city that produced Earth, Wind & Fire and Chaka Kahn. How come we don't have choir, band, orchestra offered at every school?" she said.
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The union is also asking for more sustainable schools, which are schools in low income areas that provide community-wide wrap around services.
All of these demands come at a time when the district faces a $391 million deficit and COVID funds dry up next year. In a recent budget interview, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said he is counting on the state to come up with more money.
"I'm gonna be this eternal optimist that there are conversations to be had there. There's policy decisions to be made. But the deficit isn't so significant, that it can't be resolved," he said.
While the union helped elect Mayor Brandon Johnson, who is a former CTU organizer, Davis Gates doubts the city will be all-in on her demands.
Johnson has not yet commented on the demands. He had several public events Tuesday, but did not take questions at any.