{"id":401175,"date":"2025-11-24T11:09:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T11:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/401175\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T11:09:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T11:09:18","slug":"fracture-in-chicago-labor-complicates-mayor-brandon-johnsons-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/401175\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Fracture’ in Chicago labor complicates Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Mayor Brandon Johnson has\u00a0shaken hands in church pews\u00a0and\u00a0given booming speeches in\u00a0school auditoriums\u00a0while selling\u00a0his 2026 budget plan<\/a> directly to Chicagoans, one color has been notably muted among his supporters: purple.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the signature hue of the Service Employees International Union, whose local affiliates were Johnson\u2019s second-biggest labor backer in his 2023 election. Instead, the self-styled \u201cmost pro-worker mayor\u201d in Chicago\u2019s history has only seen one union<\/a> vociferously cheer his $16.6 billion proposal, despite his hard line against layoffs: the red-shirted Chicago Teachers Union.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sign of the times after a \u201cfissure\u201d between the once-close SEIU and CTU has grown into a full-blown \u201cfracture,\u201d said Ald. Desmon Yancy, a freshman progressive who previously served in SEIU leadership.<\/p>\n

And the labor fight has implications for the whole city. Billions of dollars in property taxes and other money from residents\u2019 pockets are in play as Johnson tries to get aldermen to approve his spending plan. With some unions working against him or staying on the sidelines, he has less political firepower and could be forced to compromise his progressive vision in ways big and small in exchange for votes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely an odd moment that they aren\u2019t active,\u201d Yancy said of the SEIU. \u201cThe reason why this mayor was elected was because of work that, frankly, progressive labor did over the last decade, (only) to have the \u2014 pardon the pun \u2014 fruit of that labor get us to this moment that we\u2019re in right now, where there isn\u2019t a cohesive progressive labor push around this key agenda item for the mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yancy was talking about Johnson\u2019s budget bid to revive the corporate head tax, which aldermen voted down last week in a remarkable revolt. Meanwhile, the Chicago Federation of Labor has not yet endorsed the mayor\u2019s budget because it would halve the city\u2019s advance payment to underfunded public worker pensions and balance the books by using a record amount of money from special tax districts that would otherwise fund construction projects around Chicago.<\/p>\n

The trade unions are at the forefront of the latter concern, while another city labor group is protesting cuts to the libraries. SEIU, whose local chapters did not provide comment for this article, has neither publicly endorsed nor opposed the plan.<\/p>\n

But CTU Vice President Jackson Potter predicted labor will indeed come to a consensus \u201con the question of, the wealthy and the corporations should pay before we see any reductions in staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, this budget is a litmus test of which side are you on,\u201d Potter said, a nod to the 1930s anthem of coal mine strikers.<\/p>\n

Some of the labor world\u2019s tension stems from Johnson\u2019s $1 billion tax increment financing district sweep, needed to close $233 million of the city\u2019s own budget gap and provide a lifeline to Chicago Public Schools. The district would be due to receive $572.6 million to stave off potential midyear cuts and reimburse the city for a $175 million pension payment.<\/p>\n

To stress the need, the teachers union launched<\/a> a website with a calculator it says shows CPS cuts without that TIF surplus, by ward. The topline message for the first council member of 50 reads: \u201cSchools in Alder Daniel La Spata\u2019s Ward (1) will stand to lose $13,565,069 and 191 positions. This will affect 7,137 students of which 81% are non-white. Take action! Tell your Alder to vote YES for TIF surplus!\u201d<\/p>\n

It is an implicit message to CPS parents that aldermen who oppose Johnson\u2019s budget are supporting school cuts.<\/p>\n

Critics argue the calculator is misleading because aldermen are unlikely to vote down the whole surplus, and any reduction would not necessarily translate into 1:1 cuts as laid out by the website. Potter countered, arguing even though those numbers represent \u201caverages\u201d that the shortfall is distributed equally, CPS schools would suffer across the city.<\/p>\n

A coalition of building trades \u2014 unions that represent carpenters, plumbers, laborers, engineers, ironworkers, painters and electrical workers \u2014 is arguing such a large TIF surplus would kill both long- and short-term construction jobs. Sapping that money from ward projects in order to balance the city\u2019s books would jeopardize building renovations, roadwork and other infrastructure projects that employ those unions in the public and private sector alike, they say.<\/p>\n

They have been joined by big business interests and more wonkish aldermen who shared a broader concern that sweeping TIFs is a one-time fix that will do nothing to reduce next year\u2019s budget strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you eat it up, it\u2019s gone,\u201d said Marc Poulos of the Operating Engineers Local 150. It and other construction unions backed Johnson\u2019s rival U.S. Rep. Jesus \u201cChuy\u201d Garcia in the 2023 mayoral race but have since donated to Johnson\u2019s political fund.<\/p>\n

Asked to address that pushback, Johnson last week countered residents want to see that tax money going straight to parks and libraries. \u201cI think we\u2019re always going to be on the right side when we\u2019re invested in people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1215 has protested Johnson\u2019s plan to slash 89 vacant full- and part-time Chicago Public Library positions and halve the collections fund used to buy books. Those steep cuts would come despite the record proposed TIF surplus, and are on top of 74 similar vacancy cuts in the 2025 budget.<\/p>\n

Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter said some degree of dissent is to be expected among such a diverse coalition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just a day in the life of being a federation leader,\u201d Reiter said. The lack of endorsement doesn\u2019t mean they won\u2019t reach consensus, he said. \u201cIn terms of labor, there\u2019s been no greater partner than the city\u2019s workers and the residents of our city who are members of the labor movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter rallies members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, which represents EPA employees across the Midwest, during a protest on Aug. 12, 2025, at Federal Plaza. (E. Jason Wambsgans\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a mayoral opponent recently aggravated union leaders when he called for more \u201cshared sacrifice\u201d from city workers. \u201cI\u2019m going to say something uncomfortable: Labor needs to be at the table,\u201d Southwest Side Ald. Matt O\u2019Shea said Wednesday during a City Club of Chicago panel.<\/p>\n

Absent the layoffs the mayor has taken off the table, whittling down health care costs or enacting furloughs would require unions to voluntarily give up protections enshrined in their contracts, which labor is unlikely to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorporations need to come to the table first. And right now, we just haven\u2019t seen that,\u201d the mayor told reporters.<\/p>\n

Johnson tried unsuccessfully to raise property taxes in his 2025 budget, but is now maintaining he will veto any spending plan that raises that levy next year. And he says obstinate aldermen are the ones refusing to collaborate on a solution because they have yet to present an alternate budget proposal.<\/p>\n

\"Then-mayoralThen-mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson accepts the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union on March 8, 2023. (Antonio Perez\/ Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Though SEIU has stayed out of the spotlight, the group does benefit from parts of Johnson\u2019s plan. The record TIF sweep means the city\u2019s schools, libraries and parks where a large share of SEIU members work receive a big cut. Those employees are also part of the pension plan that would be covered by $175 million of CPS\u2019 total $572.6 million chunk of the surplus.<\/p>\n

And $7 million of the $100 million Johnson\u2019s team projects from his head tax would go toward\u00a0subsidizing child care pay. A coalition championing those workers that includes SEIU Healthcare Illinois has praised the payment, but demanded the amount be increased to $20 million.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s office has also scaled back a proposed geographic expansion of the city\u2019s congestion fee on Uber and Lyft rides, which affects drivers that SEIU Local 1 is attempting to organize statewide. But that could be as much a bone to aldermen worried about costs for residents in those boundaries as to labor worried about declining ridership.<\/p>\n

SEIU also endorsed the People\u2019s Unity Platform, a campaign that called for reinstating the head tax ahead of Johnson\u2019s 2026 budget address. But that\u2019s the extent of that left-leaning organization\u2019s direct cheerleading. An earlier spat with CTU over who should represent CPS jobs has made the once-familiar sea of purple and red union shirts during pro-Johnson rallies a rarer sight.<\/p>\n

The break between the unions may have its origins in policy disputes, but it has played out in a series of public spats and accusations<\/a> of \u201cbullying and dishonesty\u201d that threaten the prospects of Chicago\u2019s two bedrock progressive political powerhouses mending fences.<\/p>\n

Close labor watchers and some aldermen have privately grumbled that CTU\u2019s pressure campaign makes reaching consensus that much more difficult.<\/p>\n

\"Ald.Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th, watches a monitor during a Public Safety Committee meeting at City Hall on Sept. 9, 2024. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Last week, Yancy leveled his own gripe with the teachers union for publicly blasting him after the Finance Committee shot down the mayor\u2019s head tax. \u201cThe day after Black Chicagoans got hit with 100% property tax increases, council members like Desmon Yancy are putting millionaire-yacht owners ahead of the children,\u201d a CTU statement that has since been deleted from its website said.<\/p>\n

Yancy isn\u2019t on the Finance Committee, so did not vote on the head tax. \u201cCTU\u2019s brand has been attack, attack, attack. This isn\u2019t new, just, some of us are on a different side of it right now,\u201d Yancy said. He said he\u2019s separately received pressure from a fellow South Side alderman who suggested a no vote would mean pulled support from the union come election time. \u201cThat sort of stuff won\u2019t move me at all. In fact, it\u2019ll push me further away from supporting the mayor\u2019s agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poulos doesn\u2019t fault CTU\u2019s tactics, describing them as the same ones every other union uses to help reach their ends. \u201cWhether constituents buy it\u201d is an open question, he added.<\/p>\n

Potter, for his part, noted Yancy brought the conversation public by criticizing the mayor\u2019s budget in the media, but said \u201csome of this is productive struggle around where people stand, who they stand with and who they stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have strong allies, you can have legitimate differences and debate and struggle and still end at a similar place,\u201d Potter said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Mayor Brandon Johnson has\u00a0shaken hands in church pews\u00a0and\u00a0given booming speeches in\u00a0school auditoriums\u00a0while selling\u00a0his 2026 budget plan directly…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":401176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5404,5386,1818,1370,50,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-401175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-cook-county","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115604368624108436","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}