As the Chicago teachers strikes enters its second week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is turning to the courts to try and end the work stoppage. The Chicago Teachers Union said Sunday they were uncomfortable with the tentative contract offer from school leaders. Emanuel says he's instructed city attorneys to seek a court order forcing teachers back into the classroom.
A labor law expert says Chicago will have a tough time convincing a judge to order striking teachers back to work.
City attorneys asked a state court Monday to force Chicago Teachers Union members back into classrooms as the strike headed into its second week. The city contends the strike is illegal partly because it endangers students' health and safety. Martin Malin is a professor at Chicago's Kent College of Law. He's also the director of the school's Institute for Law and the Workplace. Malin says no state has ever successfully convinced a judge to grant an injunction during a teachers' strike on those grounds. He's also doubtful about the city's argument that the strike is illegal because it violates Illinois law restricting strike issues to economic matters.
