Local
Chicago City Colleges and faculty union strike four-year tentative pact before walkout
City Colleges of Chicago and the Cook County College Teachers Union reached a tentative four-year contract at 3:45 a.m. Monday, hours before a planned strike. Classes and student services are continuing while union members prepare to vote on the agreement.
City Colleges of Chicago and the Cook County College Teachers Union reached a tentative four-year contract agreement at 3:45 a.m. Monday, averting a strike that was scheduled to begin later that day.
The proposed contract includes salaries designed to keep pace with inflation, continued health insurance protections, safeguards related to artificial intelligence and a path toward free developmental education, the union said.
“I am proud of our negotiating teams, of our members who were prepared to strike, and of this contract,” union President Tony Johnston said in a statement. He said the agreement should not have taken until the morning of the planned walkout, but called it fair and supportive of students and employees.
City Colleges said Monday classes would meet and student services would operate as scheduled.
The agreement is not final. Members of the Cook County College Teachers Union, Local 1600, must ratify it before it goes to the City Colleges Board of Trustees for approval. The union represents faculty and professional staff at the city’s public community college system.