By Carol Caref
Teachers and other school employees are outraged that CPS is “messing with our money” and that the current CTU leadership is letting them. CPS is changing the timing of our pay. Up to now, we got paid one week after the end of the pay period. Starting May 8, we will have to wait until two weeks after the end of the pay period. On May 1, instead of getting a two-week check, as we would have under the old schedule, we will get a one-week payout of our extended pay. This is a hardship for many, as rents and mortgages come due on May 1.
As part of an investigation by CORE into what remedies might be available, Rachel G. Resnick, Chief Labor Relations Officer, wrote, “our Payroll Director advises that individuals contact Payroll Services at 553-4729 for assistance. The Payroll staff is being instructed on how to assist individuals facing extreme hardship situations.”
While it remains to be seen whether teachers will, in fact, be able to receive assistance, we wonder why a couple of persistent CORE members who are full time teachers, were able to get this information while the CTU officers who are getting paid to work for the members did not.
We have spoken to many teachers who feel that this additional week of holding on to our money adds insult to the injury of extended pay. Illinois law requires that wages earned be paid no more than 13 days after the end of the pay period. This would seem to make “extended pay” illegal. However, a valid collective bargaining agreement can allow wages to be paid later. The only way CPS is able to legally conduct their extended pay scam (they collect the interest but it’s our money) is because the current and previous union leaders put it in the contract!
The details of what led to the Resnick email may be instructive. First, CORE decided that since the CTU had agreed to the payroll change, it was our responsibility to see if we could do anything to make the change less painful for members. One of our members, Earl Silbar, testified at the April 22 meeting that this plan would have a harmful impact on many people who rely on their two-week checks. Another CORE member, Jackson Potter, arranged to meet Rachel Resnick to discuss this issue. Finally, after the April Board meeting, I was able to get Ron Huberman to talk about the issue briefly. He told me he understood why this might be a hardship for some, but was under the misimpression that payroll changes would not affect teachers.
When I insisted that the changes were not just for administrators, as he seemed to think, he had me come to the office of his deputy chief of staff, 26-year-old Adam Case. Ascencion Juarez, Chief Human Resources Officer, was called in to validate that teachers would be subject to payroll changes and to explain to Case (Huberman had gone elsewhere) the details of the changes. Several times, Mr. Juarez stated that the union had agreed to this.
It was clear that the decision to pay us a week later had been made for the sake of efficiency and interest money, and that employees’ needs were not considered. In these hard times, the working teacher may be the only breadwinner in the house, and it is especially important for that family to be able to depend on timely income. It is outrageous that both CPS and CTU neglected to think about these teachers.
I brought up the possibility of a hardship policy for May 1, similar to a previous extended pay hardship policy. Mr. Juarez made disparaging remarks about people who had requested hardship waivers in the past, before extended pay was mandatory for everyone. Mr. Case had not known about extended pay, but commented that teachers would have more money if they got paid their whole check instead of having to wait until the summer! Yes, Mr. Case, we’ve been thinking the same thing.
That afternoon, Ms. Resnick called and I told her what our concerns were. She said she thought that payroll did have a hardship provision and later followed up with an email. At the end of the conversation, she thanked me and told me CPS wanted to know if there were problems with things they were doing. I told her I had a long list!
