CHICAGO — A union of full-time faculty members at the City Colleges of Chicago will return to the negotiation tables with college administrators on Nov. 1 after last Tuesday’s strike by 495 teachers.
While the affected colleges remain open, classrooms where unionized faculty members once taught now are empty across the seven college campuses.
The strike, organized by Cook County College Teachers Union, Local 1600, protests the workload standards requested by City Colleges. The colleges want faculty to work 15 credit hours on contract, but the teachers union is fighting for overtime pay for the extra hours requested. Previously, faculty were expected to only work 12 credit hours as part of their contract.
“It’s disappointing that the teachers have stopped working,” said City Colleges of Chicago spokeswoman Elsa Tullos. “We feel the details of the contract could have been settled at the negotiation table instead of a strike.”
The union failed to reach a compromise with the college at Wednesday’s negotiation, more than a week after the strike began. The strike affects more than 60,000 students — whom mostly are working or attempting to transfer to a four-year institution.
Tullos said the seven colleges even have students trying to transfer to Northwestern. Not being able to complete courses on time is a potential problem for college students who need to transfer the credits in time to get into NU or other four-year institutions, she said.
Wilbur Wright College, one of the seven colleges under the City Colleges of Chicago, is located in northern Chicago and has four to five students try to transfer to NU each semester, said Cynthia Cordes, dean at Wilbur Wright. Cordes added that 60 percent of Wilbur Wright students try to transfer to four-year institutions.
NU is on the top 10 list of four-year institutions where students will transfer, Cordes said. The list includes schools like DePaul University, Loyola University, Northeastern Illinois University and University of Chicago.
“We attract really bright students,” Cordes said. “But they usually don’t have the money to start at four-year institutions right away.”
Chuck Loebbaka, director of media relations for NU, said the strike does not directly affect the university.
Strikes are not a problem at NU because the teachers aren’t unionized, Loebbaka said. Although concern eventually could arise in the admissions office, Loebbaka said it still is too early to merit any kind of action.
Cordes’ office is continuing to field calls each day from students concerned about completing courses and graduation.
“Graduation is a huge issue and I won’t pretend that it’s not,” Cordes said. “A lot of students need to finish.”
She said Wilbur Wright will have make-up classes and may even extend the semester if necessary.
All Cordes can tell students at Wilbur Wright is wait and to keep up with their work. Adjunct faculty members, which are not unionized under Local 1600, still have classes in session, she said.
“We’ll do what’s best to do what’s right for the students and to be as balanced as we can be,” Cordes said. “Clearly they have to come back at some point, obviously something will have to happen.”
The strike, which began on Oct. 19, suspended 30 percent of classes and was the first one in 27 years. It affects about 60,000 students in the Chicago area.
