Long before CPAA existed, this city was already writing the story of what working people can win when they stand together. The eight-hour workday, the weekend, the very idea that a workplace owes its people dignity and due process... a lot of that history runs straight through Chicago.
That's the tradition CPAA stepped into in 2023, when we became the recognized collective bargaining representative for Chicago Public Schools principals and assistant principals. For 125 years, CPAA existed as a professional association. Today, we're a union. That shift has already changed what's possible for school leaders in this city.
One Union. One Voice. One Direction.
This spring, when CPS moved to strip funding for over 100 assistant principal positions, no single principal was going to reverse that alone. It took a districtwide CPAA survey to document what was happening, a formal demand letter from us, an Unfair Labor Practice charge, and sustained pressure to reverse. In other words, it took a union.
That's the thing…individually, a principal facing an unclear investigation has limited options. Collectively, we've bargained a just cause standard for discipline; we’ve bargained for the right to union representation, for clear notice of allegations, and for defined timelines the district has to meet. Individually, a school leader navigating an immigration enforcement situation is vulnerable. Collectively, CPAA can flag it, push back, and get protocols clarified.
“The gains in our interim MOU... the COLA increases, the professional learning days, the injury leave, the grievance process... none of it was given. It was won, item by item, because people chose to stand together instead of hoping things would work out individually.” - CPAA President Kia Banks
We Have National Support
Part of why that collective power works is that it doesn't stop at CPAA's membership. We're an affiliate of the American Federation of School Administrators and the AFL-CIO, which means when CPAA is at the table, we're backed by a national labor movement. It's also why you'll sometimes see us showing up alongside other unions like the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU. There are some fights where we are better together… in other words, solidarity across unions is what makes any single union's wins durable.
And the data backs up what a lot of us already believe: Gallup's latest Labor Day polling found that 68% of U.S. adults approve of labor unions... the fifth year in a row that approval has landed in the 67% to 71% range, a level this country hasn't seen since the late 1950s and early 1960s. That's a sustained measure of how people think about collective power at work, and it lines up with what CPAA has observed since 2024: once school leaders had a nationally recognized seat at the table, the difference was immediate.
What This Weekend Is For
Labor Day was born from a movement that understood fair working working had to include time away from work. The Eight-Hour-Movement put it plainly: “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what you will.” So this weekend, we hope you honor those who fought for that time… we hope you rest and restore.
We're stronger when we speak up. We're stronger when we move in one direction. And we're stronger when we take care of each other, and ourselves, along the way.
And enjoy what you will. Happy Labor Day.
