CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The President of the Chicago Teachers Union this week announced she would be making "no small requests" as a new contract is negotiated.
Earlier this week, CTU President Stacy Davis-Gates outlined the list of items which she described as "a long laundry list of everything and then some."
"We are not going to shrink in our expectation. We are not going to cower by the largeness of this job we have before us."
The union's demands include 9% annual raises and the Chicago Sun- Times reports, it's not ruling out a strike.
“Our pay has not kept up with the prices at McDonald’s or the prices at Wendy’s. So what we are aiming to do is keep teachers in the city of Chicago. … The cost of Chicago is climbing," Davis-Gates explained.
Contract demands go beyond just pay, health care and working conditions and also include sports, music, art, world language, technology, after-school and restorative justice programs in schools, according to the Sun-Times.
Davis-Gates notes that nearly 80% of CTU members are women and said the contract has to be a foundation for how teachers are treated.
The mayor, a former teacher and CTU organizer, elected with substantial help from the union, is not disagreeing, but paying for the contract is another story.
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