Teacher Union Bosses Are Unelected ‘Co-Mayors’ 

State Laws Hand Big Labor Governing Power Without Accountability

In the spring of 2021, Los Angeles teacher union boss Cecily Myart-Cruz brazenly gloated to a reporter about how, even though she wields at least as much power as elected officials do over how government schools are run, she, unlike they, cannot be ousted from office by the public. 

She was commenting on a poster circulated by L.A. citizens who were furious that union bosses and elected officials had colluded to cancel in-person classes for nearly a year and a half, supposedly over COVID-19, which in reality posed minimal risks to schoolkids, teachers, and their families.

The poster called for, among other things, the recalls of L.A. Superintendent of Schools Austin Beutner, the seven members of the L.A. Board of Education, and Ms. Myart-Cruz, the president of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA/ NEA/AFT). 

“I love that my picture is the biggest one,” she told Los Angeles magazine’s Jason McGahan.

“But here’s the trouble. . . . You can recall the school board. But how are you going to recall me?” 

National Right to Work Committee Vice President Matthew Leen commented: 

“Without intending to, Boss Myart-Cruz put her finger on a key reason why it is wrong for state politicians to hand monopoly-bargaining control over how educators and other public servants are compensated and managed to government union bosses. 

“State monopoly-bargaining laws make it impossible to implement important public-policy decisions, such as the decision to reopen K-12 schools in 2020 as soon as it became clear they could operate safely in COVID-19 times, without government union bosses’ acquiescence.

“And under union monopoly bargaining, a Big Labor boss can impose harmful and unpopular policies on the public without the risk of ever being removed from power on Election Day or fired by an elected official who is unhappy with his or her performance.” 

Even With Just 18% Public Approval, Chicago Teacher Union Czar’s Job Is Secure

“Chicago is perhaps the premier case in point,” continued Mr. Leen. “Even though the Windy City is a Big Labor stronghold, Chicago Teachers Union [CTU/AFT] President Stacy Davis Gates’ public-approval rating is in the cellar. 

“According to a January 2025 citywide survey conducted by respected pollster M3 Strategies, just 18% of Chicagoans have a favorable opinion of Boss Gates. Her disapproval rating is more than three times as high as her approval rating. 

“More than twice as many Chicagoans have an unfavorable view of the CTU itself as have a favorable view.

“Unfortunately, Boss Gates and the rest of the CTU brass have little reason to care what Chicago parents and other taxpayers who don’t work for the Chicago Public Schools system think. 

“As long as they can continue to win internal CTU elections in which barely more than 1% of voting-age Chicagoans are eligible to participate, they can stay in power. And winning CTU elections is not very difficult for people who control the union’s internal lines of communication!” 

Even Well-Intentioned Mayors Have Little Power To Do the Right Thing

Under Illinois’ government-sector mandatory monopoly-bargaining laws, even when elected officials try to act in the public’s best interest, their efforts typically fall flat. 

For example, in late 2020, 2021, and early 2022, then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot correctly pointed out again and again that kids and teachers were less likely to be infected with COVID-19 in school than practically anywhere else.

Ms. Lightfoot also accurately contended again and again that remote learning was having a detrimental impact on student achievement, and a prompt return to in-person classes was needed to limit the damage. 

Despite Ms. Lightfoot’s willingness to call out misinformation about COVID-19 being spread by CTU operatives and her persistent efforts to get schools open again, Chicago government schools stayed closed longer than practically anywhere else in the country, because that’s what CTU bigwigs wanted.

“It’s not clear that, even if current Mayor Brandon Johnson, who, unlike Ms. Lightfoot, is a CTU lapdog, had been running the city at the time of COVID-19, government schools would have remained shuttered longer than they did,” said Mr. Leen. 

“Anti-representative government fiascos like those in Chicago and Los Angeles illustrate why the National Right to Work Committee and its members fight relentlessly against state laws and legislation authorizing public-sector union monopoly bargaining.”

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