Striking CICS teachers protest brings Loop office to halt

Striking Chicago International Charter School teachers brought a busy Loop office building lobby to a standstill Wednesday afternoon on their seventh day of a work stoppage.

About 100 Chicago Teachers Union Members blocked the entrances to 1 N. Wacker to bring their grievances to the accounting firm office of CICS President and Treasurer Laura Thonn.

Frazzled building security and gawking office workers struggled to make their way through the sit-in, which shifted to the center of the cavernous lobby to block a bank of elevators.

The teachers walked off the job Feb. 5 and say CICS' management firm is sitting on $36 million in reserve funds that could be used to raise their pay to the level of Chicago Public Schools teachers while increasing ranks of social workers and counselors.

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