Raising the (shop and kitchen) floor: The Chicago Teachers Union and the positive possibilities of social movement unionism through public schools

The organising that led to the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) 2025 contract serves as a strong example of the ‘Positive Possibilities for City Imagination and Action’. After the yearlong shutdown of school facilities and shift to virtual learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public support for teachers’ unions and public education dropped, as did school enrolments. Viewed through a lens of social movement unionism , which understands shop floor struggles as reflective of broader oppressive forces and injustice, the contract negotiations between the union and the Chicago Public Schools demonstrate how strategic organising and coalition-building in communities and workplaces can produce broad improvements for both workers and neighbourhood residents. By situating the public school facility as a workplace, learning space, and community infrastructure, the CTU's organising approach offers a pathway from demonised and disinvested public good to a site of transformative possibility that challenges urban austerity.