Chicago Teachers Union President, Karen Lewis made a change of position after last week?s announcement that the teachers would not accept an extension of the current contract. Now Ms. Lewis has stated that the union would be interested in talks to modify portions of the contract. The union president made it abundantly clear that she was not interested in talking about changes for union members who had already or would soon be retiring, but she said that a reduction of benefits may be possible for current members but only under certain circumstances. Most of the options Ms. Lewis suggested are intensely contested political issues, such as a commuter tax for people who work in Chicago, but live somewhere else, and increasing taxes on financial markets. Generally, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been opposed to many of the Lewis? suggestions.
See "Teachers union offers to compromise on pensions", Greg Hinz, Chicago Business, May 8, 2014