Hearing Date: 5/9/2022 9:30 AM FILED

Location: Court Room 2308 1/6/2022 5:04 PM

Judge: Cohen, Neil J IRIS Y. MARTINEZ
CIRCUIT CLERK
COOK COUNTY, IL
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 2022CH00144
Calendar, 5
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, CHANCERY DIVISION 16196282
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

LAUREL GOLDEN, AMELIA KESSEM,

JANE SIAVELIS, MICHELLE SHVARTSER, Case No. 2022CH00144
ROBERT BARTLETT, DENISE HEITZ, and
JOSEPH WARNKE

Plaintiffs,
In Chancery
v.
Injunction / Temporary Restraining
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION, AFT-IFT Order
LOCAL 1,

Defendant.

Complaint

1. This lawsuit is brought by parents of children who are enrolled in Chicago

Public Schools (CPS) against the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), the exclusive

bargaining representative of teachers employed by CPS. CPS has held district-wide,

5-days-a-week, in-person schooling since the beginning of the 2021–2022 school year.

However, on January 4, 2022, CTU held a meeting of delegates and a vote of its

members, in which they voted to refuse to work in-person. Although CTU claims its

teachers are willing to work remotely, teachers may not work remotely without the

approval of the Chicago Board of Education. CTU members voted to refuse to teach

under the conditions set forth by CPS. That is a strike by definition.

2. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act (IELRA or “the Act”) sets forth

the conditions under which CTU and its members may hold a strike. Not all of the

conditions set forth in the Act that are required before a strike may happen have been

met in this case. As a result, the strike by CTU and its members is illegal.

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 3. Plaintiffs, parents of children of CPS students, will be harmed by CTU’s strike

because their children will be denied schooling and they will be forced to arrange
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

child care because their children are unable to attend school. Therefore, Plaintiffs

bring this lawsuit seeking relief in the form of immediate injunctive relief,

declaratory relief, and damages.

Parties

4. Plaintiff Laurel Golden is the parent of three children who attend public

schools operated by CPS.

5. Plaintiff Amelia Kessem is the parent of two children who attend public schools

operated by CPS.

6. Plaintiff Jane Siavelis is the parent of one child who attends a public school

operated by CPS.

7. Plaintiff Michelle Shvartser is the parent of one child who attends a public

school operated by CPS.

8. Plaintiff Robert Bartlett is the parent of one child who attends a public school

operated by CPS.

9. Plaintiff Denise Heitz is the parent of one child who attends a public school

operated by CPS.

10. Plaintiff Joseph Warnke is the parent of one child who attends a public school

operated by CPS.

11. The Chicago Teachers Union is an “employee organization” or “labor

organization” as defined by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, 115 ILCS

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 5/2(c). Additionally, CTU is an “exclusive representative” as defined by the Illinois

Educational Labor Relations Act, 115 ILCS 5/2(d), as it has been recognized by CPS
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

as the exclusive representative of CPS teachers.

Jurisdiction

12. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this matter under 735 ILCS

5/2-701 because Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that Defendant’s actions

violate the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, 115 ILCS 5/1, et seq.

13. This Court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendant because this lawsuit

arises from Defendant’s actions in the State of Illinois.

14. Venue is proper in Cook County because Plaintiffs reside in Cook County,

Illinois, Defendant is located in Cook County, and all the relevant actions that

concern this matter have taken place in Cook County.

Factual Allegations

I. The Collective Bargaining Agreement.

15. In November 2019, CPS and CTU entered a five-year (2019–2024) collective

bargaining agreement governing the wages, hours, terms and conditions of

employment of teachers employed by CPS. Part of that agreement provides:

During the term of this Agreement, the [CTU] agrees not to strike nor
to picket in any manner which would tend to disrupt the operation of
any public school in the city of Chicago or of the administrative offices
or any other facility of the [CPS]. During the term of this Agreement,
the [CPS] agrees not to engage in any lockout.

16. Section I Preamble of the collective bargaining agreement between CPS and

CTU provides:

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 The purpose of this Agreement is to reaffirm the parties’ common
responsibility to maintain a collaborative and collegial collective
bargaining relationship that furthers the parties’ shared goal of
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

delivering high quality instructional programs and significantly

advancing a well-rounded public education for the students of the
Chicago public school system. Through free and open dialogue, the
parties have identified the educational objectives for the Chicago Public
Schools (hereinafter referred to as “CPS”) and have designed this
Agreement to further those objectives through good faith cooperation
now and in the future.

The parties firmly believe that a well-rounded public education is an

absolute necessity for any graduate to be considered college-, career- and
citizenship-ready. The parties also recognize that a well-rounded public
education includes, but is by no means limited to, providing students
with an enriched, diverse and comprehensive curriculum that allows
them to obtain essential knowledge and skills; engage in critical and
creative thinking; develop independent inquiry skills and an
appreciation for the arts, music and literature; improve their physical
and emotional health; prepare for leadership roles in their communities;
attain the technical skills necessary to become career-ready; develop the
academic discipline and proficiency in the intelligent use of technology
necessary to become college-ready; and ultimately graduate from the
Chicago public school system prepared to become productive and self-
confident citizens capable of ethical participation in a free and
democratic society.

In addition, the parties recognize that the achievement of these

educational objectives requires substantial short- and long-term
financial investments in public education and that the fulfillment of the
aspirations described in this Preamble will require dramatic and
cooperative changes in education funding at the federal, state and local
levels; a commitment to good faith collaboration; mutual agreement on
priorities and values; and the adoption of proven or research-based
educational methods and instructional practices.

Furthermore, to foster a cosmopolitan spirit and better develop CPS

students as tolerant and unbiased citizens, the BOARD and the UNION
shall work affirmatively to the end that each student may have the
educational advantage of an integrated school.

Finally, this Agreement is intended to affirm that the parties’ shared

goals will only be achieved if bargaining unit employees are fairly and
adequately recognized and rewarded for their contributions to the

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 educational process and provided with a wholesome work environment
based on mutual respect and the highest level of professionalism. The
guiding principles set forth in this Preamble shall remain at the
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

forefront of the parties’ negotiations now and in the years to come until
these shared educational aspirations become a reality for each and every
student and employee of the Chicago public school system.

17. The CBA has neither expired nor been terminated since CPS and CTU reached

an agreement.

II. CTU’s repeated threats to illegally strike during the COVID-19

pandemic.

18. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Pritzker closed schools in Illinois,

including CPS schools, starting on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. CPS implemented

remote learning shortly thereafter. Based on requirements promulgated by the State

of Illinois, CPS implemented remote learning programs for all students through the

end of the 2019–2020 school year.

19. CTU repeatedly used the threat of a member strike, which it knew or should

have known would have been illegal, as a negotiating tactic before and during the

2020–2021 school year.

20. Although CPS knew or should have known that any strike that CTU engaged

in would have been unlawful, it continued to allow CTU to make such threats rather

than obtaining relief from the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board or from a

court.

21. During the summer of 2020, CPS began floating a hybrid learning model that

it proposed to start using at the beginning of the 2020–2021 school year. Under this

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 model, students would rotate into buildings two days a week for in-person classes,

while learning remotely the remaining three days of the week.

FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

22. CTU opposed starting the 2020–2021 school year with the hybrid learning

model, including threatening a strike.1 In August 2020, CPS backtracked on its plan

to start the school year with hybrid learning, instead acknowledging that it would

start the school year with district-wide remote learning, although under a different

model than it used in the spring of 2020. CPS acknowledged that this remote learning

program would last through at least the first semester, with the hope that it could

start the hybrid plan to begin the second semester on November 9.

23. On October 16, 2020, the CPS announced a plan to resume in person learning

for pre-kindergarten and students in special education clusters. This plan did not

indicate a date by which CPS would implement this plan. In response, on October 23,

2020, CTU filed an unfair labor practice with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations

Board (“Board”), asserting that CPS failed to negotiate in good faith with it on an

issue of safety. The Board denied CTU’s request to enjoin CPS’s plan.

24. On November 17, 2020, CPS set forth the following schedule for return to in-

person learning at CPS:

• January 4, 2021: Return of Pre-K and cluster program staff

• January 11, 2021: Students in pre-K and cluster programs return

• January 25, 2021: Return of K-8 staff

• February 1, 2021: Return of K-8 students

1 https://www.cbs58.com/news/chicago-public-schools-will-start-the-school-year-all-virtual.

6
 25. On December 7, 2020, CTU filed a renewed motion for injunctive relief with

the Board. That motion was denied by the Board by a 2-1 vote.
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

26. On January 4, 2021, CPS began its return of pre-K and cluster program

teachers. Approximately 50% of the teachers that were required to return on January

4, did so. On Friday, January 8, 2021, CPS announced that any teacher who was

required to show up in person who did not starting Monday, January 11, would not

be paid.

27. On Thursday, January 21, 2021, CTU held a meeting of its delegates in which

it voted to approve a measure that would encourage its pre-K, cluster, and K-8

teachers to continue to work remotely on Monday, January 25, despite CPS’s

requirement that those teachers report to their school buildings starting that day.

The measure would authorize all teachers to stop work, remote and in-person, and

strike if CPS prevented its K-8 teachers from working remotely by cutting off their

remote access. CTU gave its members until midnight on Saturday, January 23, to

vote whether to authorize the measure. On Sunday, January 24, CTU announced that

86% of its membership submitted a vote on the measure, and of the members who

submitted a vote, 71% voted to authorize the measure.

28. On Sunday, January 24, 2021, CPS acquiesced to CTU’s bad-faith behavior

and announced that it would allow its K-8 teachers to continue working remotely

while it attempted to work out a compromise with CTU.

29. CPS and CTU did not come to an immediate agreement, such that on Tuesday,

January 26, CPS announced to its parents that pre-K and cluster students should not

7
 report to school on Wednesday, January 27, because it could not guarantee enough

teachers would be in the building.

FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

30. Eventually CTU and CPS reached an agreement to permit a return to in-

person learning for K-8 students at the beginning of March 2021.

31. Ultimately CTU’s threats pushed back reopening of K-8 schools by at least a

month.

32. Meanwhile, under Governor Pritzker’s vaccine plan, teachers became eligible

to receive the COVID-19 vaccines on January 25, 2021, as part of “Phase 1B,” which

covered “residents over the age of 65 and frontline essential workers.”2

33. In March of 2021, CTU and CPS agreed that high schools would reopen for at

least partial in-person instruction on April 19, 2021, the beginning of the fourth

quarter of CPS’s school year.

34. Under that schedule, Chicago Public High Schools would open more than a

month after elementary and middle schools reopened (on March 1 for kindergarten

through fifth grade and March 8 for sixth through eighth grade).

35. As with the other reopening agreements, the April 19 date would require CTU

members to report for in-person work prior to the first day of in-person classes.

Specifically, CTU members were expected to report for in-person work during the

week of April 12, 2021.

36. However, CTU then reneged on that agreement.

2Governor Pritzker Announces Initial Launch of Phase 1B of the COVID-19 Vaccine

Administration Plan, Illinois.gov (Jan. 22, 2021), https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-
release.22682.html.

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 37. On April 11, 2021, CTU voted to put all of its teachers back on remote learning.

38. Therefore, CTU members failed to report for in-person work starting on April
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

14, as agreed to with CPS.

39. On April 15, 2021, CTU and CPS reached an agreement, which saw high school

students return to in-person learning on Monday, April 19, 2021.

III. CPS returned to in-person learning for the 2021–2022 school year
until CTU voted to refuse to teach in person starting January 5,
2022.

40. CPS returned to district-wide, 5-days-a-week, in-person schooling for the

2021–2022 school year. From August 2021 through the end of 2021, CPS held district-

wide, in-person schooling.

41. Just as they had been among the first to receive their initial doses, teachers

were eligible for COVID-19 booster shots by the end of September 2021.3 This is

because they are essential workers and expected to be teaching in-person.

42. Nonetheless, in December 2021, CTU began questioning the safety of in-person

schooling with the omicron-variant of COVID-19. On December 28, 2021, CTU held a

meeting of delegates and electronically polled its members if they would “support a

district-wide pause and temporary shift to remote learning.” Of the CTU members

who responded, 91% said they would participate in a “remote-work action” after

winter break.

3Megan Cerullo, Here are the workers now eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot, CBS News
(Sept. 27, 2021, 7:18 AM) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-booster-shot-
workers-eligible/.

9
 43. In response, CPS sent a district-wide email indicating that schools would

remain open for in-person education on Monday, January 3, 2022, the scheduled
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

return date after CPS’s winter break.

44. CTU continued to vocalize its concerns about teacher safety because of the

omicron variant of COVID-19, yet nonetheless did not call for a strike beginning

January 3, 2022. Teachers and students, thus, returned to school on January 3, and

January 4, 2022.

45. On Tuesday, January 4, 2022, however, CTU held an evening meeting of

delegates to determine whether to ask its membership whether to withhold in-person

teaching, as required by CPS, and provide teaching remotely only, even though

teachers may not work remotely without approval of the Chicago Board of Education.

CTU initially would allow members to vote electronically until 9 PM, but extended

voting until 10 PM on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

46. In response, CPS indicated that if CTU voted to withhold teaching in person,

as the district required, then it would be forced to cancel classes on Wednesday,

January 5, 2022, because it could not ensure enough teachers would be available for

the students. In addition, CPS indicated that any teacher that did not show up to

work in-person on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, would not be paid and would be

placed on “no pay status.”

47. At 10:51 PM on January 4, 2022, CTU announced that 73% of its members had

voted to withhold in-person teaching, and provide only remote teaching, starting

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 January 5, 2022.4 Because CTU members refused to teach under the conditions set

forth by CPS—in-person instruction—CTU members are, by definition engaged in a

FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

strike.

48. CTU indicated that “The action will end when one of the following conditions

is met: The current surge in cases substantially subsides, or the mayor’s team at CPS

signs an agreement establishing conditions for return that are voted on and approved

by the the [sic] CTU House of Delegates.”5

49. In response to CTU’s strike, CPS cancelled classes on Wednesday, January 5,

2022 and again, on Thursday, January 6, 2022, because it could not guarantee enough

teachers would be in the schools to teach CPS students.

50. CTU never sent a notice of intent to strike to CPS, the regional superintendent,

or the Educational Labor Relations Board. And less than 24 hours elapsed from the

time CTU members voted on its measure to authorize a strike on January 4, 2022,

and when they did not show up for work in-person the next day, in contrast to the

requirement under Illinois law that 10 days elapse from the vote to authorize a strike

to the time a strike begins.

51. With respect to the issue of whether it is safe for teachers to return to school

in-person due to COVID-19, CPS and CTU have not engaged in mediation.

52. With respect to the issue of whether it is safe for teachers to return to school

in-person due to COVID-19, CPS and CTU have not engaged in any fact-finding

pursuant to 115 ILCS 5/13(b)(2.5).

4 https://twitter.com/CTULocal1/status/1478590050107543552?s=20.
5 https://twitter.com/CTULocal1/status/1478590050107543552?s=20.

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FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

IV. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

53. Section 13 of the Act provides the requirements for educational employees to

strike. In relevant part, Section 13 states:

educational employees in a school district organized under Article 34 of

the School Code shall not engage in a strike except under the following
conditions:
(1) they are represented by an exclusive bargaining representative;
(2) mediation has been used without success and, for educational
employers and exclusive bargaining representatives to which
subsection (a-5) of Section 12 of this Act applies, at least 14 days have
elapsed after the Board has made public the parties’ offers;
(2.5) if fact-finding was invoked pursuant to subsection (a-10) of
Section 12 of this Act, at least 30 days have elapsed after a fact-
finding report has been released for public information;
(2.10) for educational employees employed in a school district
organized under Article 34 of the School Code, at least three-fourths
of all bargaining unit employees who are members of the exclusive
bargaining representative have affirmatively voted to authorize the
strike; provided, however, that all members of the exclusive
bargaining representative at the time of a strike authorization vote
shall be eligible to vote;
(3) at least 10 days have elapsed after a notice of intent to strike has
been given by the exclusive bargaining representative to the
educational employer, the regional superintendent and the Illinois
Educational Labor Relations Board;
(4) the collective bargaining agreement between the educational
employer and educational employees, if any, has expired or been
terminated; and
(5) the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative have
not mutually submitted the unresolved issues to arbitration.

115 ILCS 5/13(b).

54. Article 34 of the School Code, 105 ILCS 5/34-1, applies only to cities having a

population exceeding 500,000, which therefore applies only to CPS.

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 55. Aside from 115 ILCS 5/13, no other provision in Illinois law authorizes CTU to

strike.
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

56. Further, no provision of Illinois law, no contract, and no local ordinance

authorizes CTU, its members, or CPS teachers to provide teaching remotely without

approval by the Chicago Board of Education.

Count I
CTU’s strike is not authorized by Section 13 of the Act
or any other provision of Illinois law.

57. Plaintiffs reallege the preceding paragraphs of this Complaint as though fully

set forth herein.

58. Section 13 of the Act, 115 ILCS 5/13, prohibits educational employees from

engaging in a strike unless specific conditions are met. Among those conditions, in

this case, the following conditions have not been met:

• 115 ILCS 5/13(b)(2) requires mediation to have been used without

success and at least 14 days have elapsed after the Board has made

public the parties’ offers.

o The parties have not engaged in mediation over the safety issues

alleged by CTU related to in-person learning.

• 115 ILCS 5/13(b)(2.5) requires at least 30 days have elapsed after a fact-

finding report has been released for public information pursuant to fact-

finding invoked pursuant to Section 12(a-10) of this Act.

o The parties never engaged in fact-finding with respect to the

safety issues CTU alleges are at issue with in-person learning.

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 • 115 ILCS 5/13(b)(2.10) requires at least three-fourths of all bargaining

unit employees who are members of the exclusive bargaining

FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

representative have affirmatively voted to authorize the strike.

o According to CTU, only 73% of its members voted to withhold in-

person teaching, less than the three-fourths required to authorize

a strike.

• 115 ILCS 5/13(b)(3) requires that at least 10 days have elapsed after a

notice of intent to strike has been given by the exclusive bargaining

representative to the educational employer, the regional superintendent

and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.

o CTU never sent a notice of intent to strike to CPS, the regional

superintendent, or the Board. And less than 10 days elapsed since

CTU closed member voting on its measure to authorize a strike.

Thus, this condition could not have been met.

• 115 ILCS 5/13(b)(4) requires that the collective bargaining agreement

between the educational employer and educational employees, if any,

has expired or been terminated.

o The Collective Bargaining Agreement between CPS and CTU has

neither expired nor been terminated.

59. In summary, the conditions that the Act requires to have been met before

educational employees can legally strike have not been met.

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 60. Nonetheless, without a basis under Illinois law, CTU has instructed all of its

members to withhold in-person teaching from all CPS students.

FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

61. CTU has no basis to claim that its vote to withhold in-person learning is not a

strike. “[T]he test is not whether the union calls its action a strike, but whether the

effect of its action is equivalent to that of a strike. Chi. Bd. of Educ. v. Chi. Teachers

Union, *11 (Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, May 18, 2017). As stated,

teachers may not work remotely unless they have approval of the Chicago Board of

Education, which they do not have. “[T]he test is whether the union’s conduct

constitutes a concerted failure to report for work,” id. at *12, including a sick-out,

slow-down, or other work action not facially denominated a strike. Here, the union’s

conduct resulted in its members failing to report to work for in-person instruction,

which forced CPS to cancel classes on January 5 and 6.

62. Therefore, the actions of CTU to authorize its members, educational employees

of CPS, to strike by withholding in-person teaching for all of CPS, are illegal.

63. Plaintiffs, parents of CPS students, are harmed by CTU’s illegal actions

because their children are being denied schooling and they have had to secure child

care for their children.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully pray that the Court grant the following relief:

A. Enter a declaratory judgment that the current collective bargaining agreement

between CPS and CTU provides that CTU may not authorize a strike and that CTU’s

actions to stop in-person teaching violated the collective bargaining agreement;

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 B. Enter a declaratory judgment that the facts of this case show that the

conditions required for educational employees to strike under Section 13 of the Act
FILED DATE: 1/6/2022 5:04 PM 2022CH00144

are not met and therefore CTU’s actions to stop in-person teaching constitute an

illegal strike;

C. Enter temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief preventing

CTU from continuing to authorize its members to stop in-person teaching unless and

until all the conditions set forth in Section 13 of the Act are met and such actions do

not violate the collective bargaining agreement;

D. Award Plaintiffs damages in the form of lost income and the cost of securing

child care while CTU and its members were on strike;

E. Award Plaintiffs their reasonable costs and expenses; and

F. Award Plaintiffs any additional relief the Court deems just and proper.

Dated: January 6, 2022 Respectfully submitted,

Laurel Golden, Amelia Kessem, Jane

Siavelis, Michelle Shvartser, Robert
Bartlett, Denise Heitz, and Joseph
Warnke,

/s/ Jeffrey M. Schwab

Jeffrey M. Schwab (#6290710)
James McQuaid (#6321108)
Liberty Justice Center
Cook County No. 49098
141 West Jackson Boulevard
Suite 1065
Chicago, Illinois 60604
312-637-2280
(312) 263-7702 (fax)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Attorneys for the Plaintiffs

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