Murat Surucu: Stop subverting teachers' rights!

The teachers at a Chicago Math and Science Academy, a charter school in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, are standing up for their rights as teachers and workers. In June 2010 they decided to join the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (ACTS) with the hopes of quickly attaining a contract that works for students, the CMSA community and teachers.

Unfortunately, the CMSA Board of Directors has decided to walk away from contract negotiations (see the Chicago Tribune article for more information). Murat Surucu, a resident in radiation oncology at the University of Chicago Medical Center, is a member of the CMSA board of directors. Please sign this petition urging him to come back to the bargaining table immediately!

Dear Murat Surucu:

We, the undersigned members of the University of Chicago community, wish to express our deepest concerns about the decision by Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA) to walk away from contract negotiations with Chicago ACTS, the teachers’ chosen union. And we are further disturbed by the school’s firing of Rhonda Hartwell, a teacher who helped organize the union. Under any set of laws, these actions by CMSA are illegal and anti-union.

The teachers' decision to unionize has been ratified by law, and must be respected. The law requires CMSA to negotiate a collective bargaining contract with Chicago ACTS, and by failing to do so, school officials are breaking the law. As a member of CMSA’s board of directors, we hold you responsible.

We recognize that CMSA teachers formed a union to create a stable working environment that respects teachers and empowers them to be the best educators they can be.

As members of the University of Chicago community, we embrace the democratic rights of workers to organize and commend CMSA teachers for standing up for their rights. We urge you and your colleagues to similarly respect these values by returning to the negotiating table with CMSA teachers immediately.

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1-25 of 101 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Organization	Location	Comments:
101	Sat Aug 13 19:13:54 EDT 2011	John Lagios	Laborers Local 2	Chicago, IL
100	Sat Apr 16 19:28:56 EDT 2011	Alice Mulberry	U. of C. Alumna	Chicago, IL
99	Sun Mar 20 21:03:08 EDT 2011	pamela haley	u of c alumna	chicago, IL
98	Thu Mar 17 20:22:39 EDT 2011	Darrah Sipe Two	University of Chicago	Chicago, IL	Down with the University!
97	Tue Mar 15 13:09:04 EDT 2011	Elizabeth Todd-Breland	none	IL
96	Mon Mar 14 15:49:52 EDT 2011	lynn foreman	myself	chicago, IL
95	Fri Mar 11 16:38:56 EST 2011	Martine Caverl	community resident	Chicago, IL
94	Fri Mar 11 14:33:00 EST 2011	Gloria Carri8g	Cook County College Teachers Union	Chicago, IL	It is not surprising that the University of Chicago is joining the right-wing attack on teachers and other public employees. Shame!
93	Fri Mar 11 00:50:09 EST 2011	Jacqueline Kirley	Working Women's History Project	Chicago, IL
92	Thu Mar 10 23:03:37 EST 2011	Alie Kabba	United African Organization	Chicago, IL
91	Thu Mar 10 19:28:45 EST 2011	Tracey Rosen	University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology	IL
90	Thu Mar 10 19:05:28 EST 2011	Mike Siviwe Elliott	United Auto Workers Local 551-Chicago	PARK FOREST, IL	I'm forced to question the level intelligence that Murat Surucu has. Does this fool actually want engage us in challenging his anti-worker tactics? Workers rights are Human rights! Teachers, just say the More....
89	Thu Mar 10 18:48:37 EST 2011	Joan Merlin Palmer	UC/SSA	Chicago, IL
88	Thu Mar 10 17:56:57 EST 2011	Vreni Naess	none	Chicago, IL	UofC alumna, supporter of unions and their much needed efforts on behalf of working people
87	Thu Mar 10 15:47:42 EST 2011	Toussaint Losier	U of C PhD Candidate; Graduate Students United; Southside Togeth	Chicago, IL
86	Thu Mar 10 13:54:53 EST 2011	Richard Del Rio	Student	IL	Everyone has the right to organize! Don't make the mistake they've made in Wisconsin.
85	Thu Mar 10 13:38:50 EST 2011	Gary Rayl	AFT Senator	Chicago, IL	This petition will be sent to our Local. Solidarity
84	Thu Mar 10 10:45:27 EST 2011	Gloria Fallon	CPS	Chicago, IL	This is just the beginning. Next time there is a call to action go! We need to show our solidarity against corporate power!!!!
83	Thu Mar 10 10:40:29 EST 2011	Lucinda Pardo	Community Resident and Business Owner	Chicago, IL
82	Thu Mar 10 07:43:08 EST 2011	Constance A. Prince	none	Chicago, IL
81	Thu Mar 10 06:13:31 EST 2011	Jay Mulberry	U of C alumnus living in Hyde Park	Chicago, IL
80	Thu Mar 10 01:35:54 EST 2011	John Murphy	Professor Emeritus, NEIU	Chicago, IL	As a U of C graduate (M.A. '69) and a Hyde Parker I deplore your participation in this blatant denial of these teachers rights. SHAME!
79	Thu Mar 10 00:03:51 EST 2011	Sam Guard	HP resident since 1950; UofC alumnus	Chicago, IL	Your first obligation,Doctor,is do no harm.
78	Wed Mar 09 23:48:01 EST 2011	Paul Baker	Community member	Chicago, IL
77	Wed Mar 09 23:12:42 EST 2011	Diane Durante	Chicago Public Schools	CHICAGO, IL	Stripping teachers' rights to organize is an OUTRAGE against a middle class and all working people.

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