The teachers and staff in one of Chicago’s largest charter school networks overwhelmingly voted to join the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS), an AFT affiliate. The more than 400 educators work at the 13 schools, with about 6,500 students, that are operated by the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO).

In his latest piece at Salon, Josh Eidelson talks about a planned walkout by fast-food workers in Chicago. 

The walkout began, the Chicago Tribune reports, at 5:30 a.m. local time with workers from some McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts stores walking off the job. The ultimate goal of the walkout is to support the Fight for $15 campaign, whose goal is to secure a wage of $15 per hour for workers. Also expected to join the walkout were workers from Subway, Macy's, Sears and Victoria's Secret.

Hundreds of activists representing working families rallied in Chicago on Thursday in support of commonsense immigration reform with a path to citizenship. The event was held by the Chicago Federation of Labor, Instituto del Progreso Latino and the AFL-CIO.

Live from Chicago, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is talking about the future of the union movement and new models of worker representation. This event is hosted by Chicago Center for Working-Class Studies and televised and streamed by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV). Watch the live stream after the jump. 

This post is from the Chicago Federation of Labor.

Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan and Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez are calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to reverse his decision to terminate the union contract that covers some 35,000 state workers.

“State employees are on the frontlines every day preserving public safety, safeguarding children and assisting families, caring for aging veterans, responding to disasters, and protecting our environment,” Carrigan said.  “Gov. Quinn’s effort to undermine their collective bargaining rights is unwarranted and virtually unprecedented in Illinois government.

The Chicago Tribune reports there is a framework for a deal between Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) Local 1 and the Chicago Public Schools.

The Tribune spoke to CTU attorney Robert Bloch, who said:

I’m pleased to report that the talks today were very productive....We are still continuing to work out the details of the contract, but we are hopeful that we will have a complete agreement to present to the union’s House of Delegates by Sunday.

While contract talks between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the city continue today, the 29,000 teachers and education professionals who were forced out on strike to gain a contract that provides students with the education they deserve were on the picket lines early this morning and then gathered for three large rallies across the Windy City.

At 12:01 a.m. today, for the first time in 25 years, more than 29,000 teachers and education professionals of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) were forced out on strike to gain a contract that provides students with the education they deserve.

CTU expressed disappointment in the school district’s refusal to concede on issues involving resources for students, job security and compensation—including the district’s decision to strip teachers and paraprofessionals of an agreed-upon 4 percent raise. Resources for students also are highlighted in a one-page paper excerpt of their 46-page comprehensive study, “The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve,” outlining the type of school and educational environment their students should have. Its recommendations include:

Work connects us all. The Chicago Federation of Labor's new YouTube video, "Rise," is a powerful reminder that working people built this country and continue to keep it running every day. 

The video states:

We breathe life into every neighborhood every day...separate stories, different voices—but joined together. 

Watch the video in the post or on the Chicago Federation of Labor's YouTube channel.

Nicole Aro is the AFL-CIO Digital Strategies deputy director.

My mother is a high school teacher. Growing up, the joy that she took in her students learning each day was inspiring (and still is!). She spent thousands of dollars of her own money on classroom and after school activities, countless days and weeks over the summer poring over classics so she could better educate her seniors on their Advanced Placement (AP) work and endless nights and weekends creating her own supplemental material when the textbooks just weren’t engaging enough (think sketch comedies using characters from The Iliad and The Odyssey).

Inspired largely by my mom, when I got to college in Chicago, I promptly signed up to be a part-time teaching assistant in the Chicago Public School system.