CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU, representing support staff, walked into a school Friday morning in the Palmer Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side, celebrating the end to the 15-day strike that kept students out of school for 11 days.
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey joined SEIU Local 73 President Dian Palmer as they walked together, along with others including some parents, into Yates Elementary School.
"A strike doesn't just change a contract. It also changes the people who participate in the strike. We feel a little bit of what it means to have our voice count, in a society that often ignores our voices," Sharkey said. "If anything comes out of this, I think it's the lessons that we ourselves draw about our own importance and our own power, when we stand together and lift up our voice. Don't expect us to be quiet or go away. Expect us to have more sense of what we can accomplish."
Palmer said the agreement brought her members out of poverty wages.
"To bring dignity and respect to our lowest wage workers," Palmer said.
Sharkey said they moved the needle on what he calls "educational justice."