Reporter posts footage of CTU school closing rally showing aggressive union behavior
When Jeremy Segal attempted to approach CTU President Karen Lewis and activist Jesse Jackson to ask about radical groups that were present at the rally, union members and officials blocked the correspondent off and forced him away.
Paul Kersey
Director of Labor Policy
Education Action Group, or EAG, has posted footage showing some less than wholesome aspects of the Chicago Teachers Union. EAG correspondent Jeremy Segal attended the unions rally against school closings on March 27. When Segal attempted to approach CTU President Karen Lewis and activist Jesse Jackson to ask about radical groups that were present at the rally, union members and officials blocked the correspondent off and forced him away. One rally attendee resorted to repeated anatomical insults.
Segals question about the radical groups in attendance was a fair one. I was at the rally and can affirm that contingents from various socialist groups and even anarchists were present, without any objection from the union. While no punches were thrown the whole scene does indicate that CTUs commitment to nonviolence is getting a bit ragged. The union certainly is not eager for dialogue with its critics.
The combativeness is a predictable result of escalating rhetoric in which Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has become the murder mayor simply for closing down school buildings in response to changes in the citys population. The defensiveness is to be expected given the thin rationales that the union has for its demands. These traits are liable to become more pronounced as the school closing controversy continues.