Teachers offered better deal than Chicago cops, police union says

Kevin Graham, president of the FOP; Chicago Teachers hit the picket line. | Sun-Times file photos

So much for labor solidarity?

The Fraternal Order of Police marked the second day of a walkout by Chicago’s teachers and support staff with a comparison of how much better a deal the Chicago Teachers Union stands to secure compared with the police union, whose members have been shot at and killed in the course of duty.

As other city unions rallied around the CTU repping teachers and SEIU 73 repping other school support staff, a red and blue infographic appeared Friday on the FOP Lodge No. 7’s Facebook page.

The post pointed out that CTU has gone 109 days without a contract, while police have gone 839. It notes that CTU was offered 16% raises, while police were offered 10.5%. It included the fact that teachers pay a much smaller percentage of what cops pay toward their pensions.

The graphic also pointed out the dangers cops face, noting that 6 died since their last contract expired in 2017, and 33 were shot at.

And it noted that violent crime had dropped by 17 percent and that nearly 9,000 guns have been taken off the street in that time.

The flyer did not detail test scores or any other statistics about Chicago Public Schools or teachers’ jobs.

Asked about the flyer, FOP spokesman Martin Preib said, “What’s there to talk about? It’s just information. ... It’s just a collection of facts.”

Pressed about the timing of the release during an active work stoppage held by fellow city unions, Preib responded, “I think it says what it says and don’t have anything to say anymore than that.”

Will the FOP join other public sector unions in Chicago to stand with the striking unions if the strike continues?

“We don’t want to discuss our tactics,” Preib said, declining to elaborate before hanging up.

A CTU official did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

At opposite ends of the political spectrum, the right-leaning FOP and lefty CTU have historically not been strong allies, especially after part of the CTU got involved in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The union also has been pushing CPS and the city to remove police officers from posts inside the city’s public schools, a security measure the schools system’s budget has paid for.