Chicago Teachers Union Members Vote to Join National Day of “No School, No Work, No Shopping” on May 1st


Chicago Teachers Union Members Vote to Join National Day of “No School, No Work, No Shopping” on May 1st 

Educators Say the President’s Breaking of Every Rule Mark a Line in the Sand for Their Students, School Communities, and Democracy as We Know It “The only thing that stops tyrants is labor and community standing together.”


Chicago, IL. At the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates, the union’s highest elected governing body voted to echo the national call for “no school, no work, no shopping” on May 1st.


Across the country, labor unions and community groups are drawing inspiration from successful boycotts of companies like Target who have turned their back on diversity and lent their stores to ICE agents, the successful day of truth and freedom in Minneapolis that removed the head of Border Patrol from occupying their city, Chicago’s own history of massive immigrants’ rights marches in 2006, and even further back, the Civil Rights movement that confronted Jim Crow, the organizing of A Philip Randolph and the Pullman Porters, and the general strike of enslaved Africans who broke the back of the Confederacy and ended the Civil War.


The union is calling on its own history of its one-day strike in 2016 where educators walked out of school for the day to protest massive budget cuts and threats to cut 7% of teacher salaries and ultimately helped win the evidence-based formula the following year that set a measure and objective to adequately fund schools, a requirement set to be met next year that legislators have introduced new legislation this session in order to ensure the state complies with the deadline.


The educators say they are fighting to make a billionaire governor deliver for their students, billionaire corporate donors to stop corrupting democracy, and a billionaire president to end his authoritarian abuse of power.


“Teaching our students what civic action looks like requires more than textbooks when the President sends federal agents to occupy our cities and the Governor chooses to continue giving tax breaks to billionaires instead of giving our students the school day they deserve,” explained CTU Vice President Jackson Potter. “If we still want to have democracy in the midterms this November, public schools that provide our students with quality education, and unions to defend workers’ rights, then it is up to every Chicagoan to stand up for what we believe in and show the authoritarian billionaire in Washington that when he breaks every rule, we will not go along with business as usual.”


Resolution for a May Day Day of Civic Action and Defense of Public Education

Submitted to the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates


WHEREAS public education is facing an unprecedented national assault driven by MAGA politicians, billionaire donors, and corporate interests who seek to privatize our schools, censor educators, ban books, dismantle civil rights protections, criminalize and separate immigrant families, and weaken workers’ unions; and


WHEREAS these coordinated attacks include efforts to expand vouchers that transfer public dollars in private schools, close neighborhood schools, censor curriculum, target LGBTQ+ students, erode protections for Black, brown, immigrant, and non-Christian communities, and use federal power to intimidate school districts into compliance with a white supremacist and anti-democratic agenda; and


WHEREAS the attack on public education is a central part of an agenda that is breaking any democratic norms, threatening the integrity of upcoming elections, attacking Black and brown communities, ending hard-fought for voting rights, and attempting to cement authoritarian power in pursuit of enriching the billionaire class even further; and


WHEREAS Chicago educators know firsthand that fully funded public schools, labor rights, and the democratic right to vote are three foundations to the success of our students and their families and that attacks on unions and public education are attacks on our students and their families, particularly working-class communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities; and,


WHEREAS Billionaires, the ultra wealthy, and powerful corporations are funding campaigns at the federal, state and local levels to avoid paying taxing and fully funding schools at legally required amounts; and


WHEREAS we did not fight to win an elected school board to see billionaire donors corrupt the November elections; and 


WHEREAS our union has never stood on the sidelines in moments of local or national crisis, and we understand that the defense of public education from cuts and privatization, the defense of our communities from federal occupation, the defense of our union rights, and the defense of democracy itself are inseparable; and


WHEREAS May Day is rooted in Chicago’s labor history and represents the global tradition of workers organizing collectively for dignity, safety, and justice; and


WHEREAS in recent years, May Day has become a powerful national day of action uniting labor, educators, students, and immigrant and community organizations to demand public schools over private profits, people over billionaires, and democracy over authoritarianism; and


WHEREAS historic examples from enslaved Africans breaking the confederacy, A Philip Randolph’s organization of a march on Washington, the Civil Rights movement’s response to Jim Crow, the late Rev. Jackson’s Operation Breadbasket, our own union’s countless labor actions for educational justice, the courageous day of truth and freedom in Minneapolis, and international resistance to fascism teach us that the most effective force to strengthen and fortify our country’s democracy is workers’ collective action in coalition with community; and


WHEREAS right wing authoritarian donors via AIPAC, AI companies, INCS Acts, Making Our Tomorrow, Common Ground Collective, the Urban Center, Americans for Prosperity, and cryptocurrency PACs, that support policies antithetical to our beliefs and values, are flooding our election system with dark money; and


WHEREAS these entities also seek to divide and misinform Black and brown and working-class communities, upend coalitions, and purposefully confuse the electorate; 


WHEREAS Trump has illegally declared war on Iran, built on lies and deception, while using American resources to bomb schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure that has killed, harmed and displaced countless people in both Iran and Lebanon, 


WHEREAS our students and students everywhere deserve our love and support; not fear, military assaults, silence, nor complicity, but political education, civic engagement, and school communities prepared to protect one another in the face of massive federal interference;


THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates formally declares May 1 a Day of Civic Action in Defense of Public Education where we are in community engaging our students, their families and our neighbors, and supporting mutual aid efforts, leading civic education, participating in voter registration, know your rights, and mass resistance training from the beginning to the end of the day; and


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we will join our siblings in Minnesota and the nation by joining the call for a National Day of “No Work, No School, and No Shopping” to defend of Democracy, demand ICE out of our cities, and tax the rich to support our schools and vital services; and 


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CTU members will send petitions and resolutions to the Board of Education and the Mayor asking for their full support and participation in May Day activities by formally declaring May 1 a Day of Civic Action, and in the lead up to May 1 encouraging schools to engage in age-appropriate civic learning, marches and rallies, political education, Peace Concerts, labor history programming, and community safety trainings that equip students, educators, and families to protect themselves and each other; and


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and the Mayor can draw upon state law, codified at 105 ILCS 5/26-1, effective Jan 1, 2025, that allows middle and high school students one, school-day-excused absence per year to attend a "civic event" sponsored by non-profit or governmental entities, such as performances or educational gatherings.


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CTU will organize and promote age-appropriate civic education, labor history programming, and know-your-rights trainings in the days surrounding and on May Day to equip educators, students, and families with tools to defend themselves and their communities; and


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CTU calls on members to participate in collective actions on May Day, in coalition with labor and community partners, to reject privatization, illegal wars, union-busting, anti-immigrant and anti-DEI policies, and federal overreach into our classrooms; and


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CTU will continue building a national fight back alongside unions and community organizations across the country to defend public schools as democratic institutions governed by and for the people; and


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CTU will develop a working committee to review and revise our political endorsement process and questionnaires to defend our values and interests against dark money interference in our elections and mitigate efforts to undermine our efficacy and coalition commitments; 


BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that this House of Delegates affirms that the future of public education will be shaped by educators, students, and families—not by billionaires, corporate PACs, or authoritarian politicians—and commits to sustained organizing beyond May Day to protect our schools and our democracy.

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